NMC halts fresh admissions after CBI’s FIR, to take action against colleges involved in malpractices

Followed by a massive medical college scam uncovered by CBI, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has announced that strict action will be taken against both the colleges and officials.

Numerous complaints of bribery and irregularities have surfaced during inspections of medical colleges: Applications for recognition of new colleges have been cancelled.

Following incidents of malpractice and corruption during inspections of medical colleges, the CBI has filed FIRs against over 14 college management officials, doctors, and inspection officers. 

Admissions halted

According to decisions taken by the NMC, a private medical college in Karnataka has been penalised and a senior assessor whas been blacklisted following an instance of alleged bribery.

Moreover, applications for new colleges, new undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and seat increases will also be cancelled. 

No further procedures will be undertaken by the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) of the commission regarding these colleges. 

Notably, a complaint has also been filed against a Swaminarayan college in Gujarat.

In India, admission permissions and various other approvals for medical colleges are granted based on inspections conducted by the MARB under NMC. 

The Board has stated that, according to the CBI report, a doctor working with an assessor of the commission was arrested for accepting a bribe of ₹10 lakh in exchange for submitting a positive report during an inspection at a private medical college in Karnataka. 

In the continued investigation by the CBI, raids were conducted at 40 locations across six states, including Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. These investigations revealed widespread irregularities in inspections, such as tampering, use of dummy faculty, and other forms of malpractice.

FIRs were subsequently filed against officials from 14 medical colleges, and over 35 individuals—including three doctors and three members of the commission’s inspection team—were named as accused. The CBI also arrested six individuals, including doctors and officials.

As per the CBI’s FIR, the Swaminarayan Medical College in Gujarat was also found to have committed irregularities in its compliance report and was found to have listed “ghost” faculty. Consequently, the Commission has decided to reject all applications submitted to MARB for new medical colleges, new courses, and additional seats for the 2025–26 academic year, and no further processing will be done on these.

The assessment board of NMC has issued a strong warning, stating that corruption and malpractice will not be tolerated. 

Colleges found guilty will face penalties, including suspension of approval processes for new schemes, reduction in seats and student intake for future academic years, and prohibition of new admissions for one or more years.

Additionally, if faculty members from government medical colleges are found involved in irregularities during inspections, the Commission will recommend that the concerned authorities take disciplinary action against them.