Accepted bribes to grant approval to medical colleges; former UGC chairman among 34 accused in CBI case

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has expressed shock over large-scale corruption in the country’s medical education sector. A case has been registered against several individuals — including a former Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), officials from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, members of the National Medical Commission (NMC), and intermediaries — for allegedly accepting hefty bribes to grant approval to substandard and non-compliant medical colleges. The name of the former UGC chairman has not yet been publicly disclosed.

A total of 34 individuals have been named in the case, and eight were arrested by the CBI recently. In search of the remaining accused, the agency conducted raids across 40 locations in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Uttar Pradesh.

The CBI found that several medical colleges received recognition despite not meeting the required NMC standards regarding teacher-student ratios and basic infrastructure, all allegedly in exchange for bribes.

Corruption in Health Ministry and Medical Commission
The CBI’s First Information Report (FIR) claims that a major corruption network was operating within the Union Health Ministry and the National Medical Commission. Eight officials from the Ministry are among those named in the chargesheet. According to the FIR, they accepted large sums of money in return for leaking confidential files and information to middlemen.

In a separate complaint, the CBI has also launched an investigation into Dr. Montu M. Patel, President of the Pharmacy Council, for allegedly taking bribes to approve pharmacy colleges. Raids were conducted at his residence in Ahmedabad and at his office in Delhi. He is currently absconding.

High-profile accused
Some of the prominent names among the accused include:

• D.P. Singh, Chairman of Tata Institute of Social Sciences
• Mayur Rawal, Registrar of Geetanjali University
• Ravishankar G. Maharaj, Chairman of Rawatpura Institute of Medical Sciences and Research
• Suresh Singh Bhadoriya, Chairman of Index Medical College

The officials from the Health Ministry named in the FIR are Poonam Meena, Dharamveer, Piyush Malyan, Anup Jaiswal, Rahul Srivastava, Deepak, Manish, and Chandan Kumar.