By Garima
New Delhi: Busting systemic corruption in the medical education sector, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked 34 individuals- including officials from the Union Health Ministry and the National Medical Commission (NMC), for their alleged involvement in a widespread racket that manipulated the regulatory framework for private medical colleges. The accused include government functionaries, doctors, intermediaries, and top representatives from private institutions, all linked to a web of bribery, information leaks, and fraudulent inspections.Among those named in the FIR are eight officials from the Union Health Ministry, a National Health Authority officer, and five doctors from the NMC’s inspection team. Prominent private medical college figures have also been implicated.The Crackdown:According to a recent PTI report, the CBI has busted a network of officials of the Union health ministry, National Medical Commission, intermediaries and representatives of private medical colleges allegedly involved in a litany of “egregious” acts, including corruption and unlawful manipulation of the regulatory framework governing medical colleges. The agency has named 34 people in an FIR, including eight health ministry officials, a National Health Authority official and five doctors who were part of the National Medical Commissioner (NMC) inspection team.Tata Institute of Social Sciences Chairman D P Singh, Gitanjali University Registrar Mayur Raval, Rawatpura Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Chairman Ravi Shankar ji Maharaj and Index Medical College Chairman Suresh Singh Bhadoria have also been named in the FIR.The CBI has already arrested eight individuals, including three NMC doctors, allegedly caught accepting a Rs 55 lakh bribe to provide a favourable inspection report to Rawatpura Institute of Medical Sciences and Research. The arrested individuals have been identified as Dr Manjappa C.N., Dr. Chaitra M.S., Dr. Ashok D. Shelke, Atul Kumar Tiwari (Administrative Director, SRIMSR), Sathisha A., and Ravichandra K. All six were produced before a special CBI court in Raipur yesterday. The CBI sought five days’ remand for interrogation. The court is yet to rule on the request, adds UNI report.According to CBI officials, the inspection team visited SRIMSR on June 30. The team comprised Dr. Manjappa (Orthopaedics HOD, Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Karnataka), Dr. Chaitra, Dr. Shelke, and Dr. Sathish. The CBI alleges that the officials colluded with Atul Tiwari and others to accept the bribe in return for a favourable National Medical Commission (NMC) inspection report. Dr. Manjappa allegedly directed Dr. Sathish to collect the ₹55 lakh via a hawala operator.Acting on this information, the CBI conducted simultaneous raids at over 40 locations across Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi. The arrests were made in Raipur on Tuesday, with some of the accused reportedly caught red-handed during the transaction.Among those arrested is Dr. Atin Kundu, Medical Director of SRIMSR, who also reportedly serves as an Assistant Professor at the Raipur Government Medical College. His dual roles have triggered concerns over conflict of interest and violation of government service rules, which prohibit secondary employment without official approval.The CBI maintains that doctored reports were submitted to the NMC to facilitate SRIMSR’s recognition. Officials claim the college administration and inspection team coordinated to manipulate the outcome of the inspection. While the defence counsel argued that the doctors were wrongly implicated and had performed their duties diligently, the CBI insists that credible evidence confirms collusion to influence the inspection outcome.The agency has filed formal charges against all six and continues its investigation. All accused are expected to be produced again before the special court after the initial remand period.Also Read: Bribes for favourable medical college inspection reports- CBI arrests 3 doctorsModus Operandi:The syndicate has its roots in the Union health ministry, where eight accused officials ran the sophisticated scheme facilitating unauthorised access, illegal duplication and dissemination of highly confidential files and sensitive information to representatives of medical colleges through a network of intermediaries in exchange for huge bribes, the CBI FIR alleged, reports PTI.It is alleged that the officials, in collusion with the intermediaries, manipulated the statutory inspection process conducted by the NMC by disclosing inspection schedules and identities of the designated assessors to the medical institutions concerned well in advance of the official communication.The CBI has named the Union health ministry’s Poonam Meena, Dharamvir, Piyush Malyan, Anup Jaiswal, Rahul Srivastava, Deepak, Manisha and Chandan Kumar as accused in the FIR.They allegedly located files and clicked photographs of notings and…