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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has exposed a sweeping corruption scandal in India’s medical education sector, naming senior officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the National Medical Commission (NMC), several private medical college administrators, and a former chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) in a First Information Report (FIR) filed on June 30.
Scope and Modus Operandi
According to the CBI, the conspiracy involved pervasive bribery and manipulation of statutory inspection procedures for private medical institutions. Confidential regulatory information—including inspection schedules and assessor identities—was allegedly leaked to select colleges, enabling them to construct fraudulent setups for official inspections. These included deploying ghost faculty, admitting bogus patients, tampering with biometric attendance systems, and bribing assessors to secure favourable findings.
The FIR implicates a network of public officials and intermediaries based in New Delhi and across India. Among those named are DP Singh, Chancellor of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and former UGC chairman; Suresh Singh Bhadoria, Chairman of Index Medical College, Indore; and Mayur Raval, Registrar of Geetanjali University, Udaipur. The investigation has also revealed that bribes were routed through hawala channels and formal banking systems, with some payments exceeding ₹4 crore for positive NMC inspection results.
Arrests and Ongoing Investigation
The CBI has already arrested eight individuals, including three NMC doctors—Dr. Manjappa C.N., Dr. Chaitra M.S., and Dr. Ashok D. Shelke—caught accepting a ₹55 lakh bribe to provide a favourable inspection report for Rawatpura Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (SRIMSR). Other college administrators and intermediaries, such as Atul Kumar Tiwari, have also been apprehended.
The probe extends to southern India, with key figures like B Hari Prasad of Andhra Pradesh and his associates allegedly facilitating fake faculty arrangements and expedited regulatory permissions for bribes. Institutions such as the Father Colombo Institute of Medical Sciences in Warangal are under scrutiny for making substantial payments to secure NMC approvals.
Regulatory Response
In response to the scandal, the NMC has blacklisted implicated assessors and blocked MBBS and postgraduate seat expansions for several colleges found to have engaged in unethical practices. The CBI has registered the case under Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita and multiple sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, covering charges of bribery, criminal conspiracy, breach of official secrecy, and forgery.
Disclaimer:
The details reported above are based on information from the CBI’s ongoing investigation and official FIR filings. All individuals named are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. The investigation is active, and further developments are expected as authorities continue to examine the extent of the alleged fraud.
