Top officials were found running nursing colleges that did not even have a campus
After NDTV's continued investigation, the Madhya Pradesh government has ordered tough action against the accused in the nursing college scam, that has affected about 1.25 lakh students.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has said that all officers and employees involved in irregularities will be sacked and action will be taken against the then registrar and secretary of the Nursing Council.
An exam will also be held, on the lines of engineering and medical entrances, for nursing students.
A commission will be constituted in the state to give recognition to nursing institutions and a state-level competitive examination will be held for admission to nursing colleges.
The development comes after NDTV reported that a new team from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to take over the investigation into Madhya Pradesh's nursing colleges scam after members of the agency's earlier team allegedly became a part of it.
Four CBI officers, including a Deputy Superintendent-rank officer, have been named in the case and three of them have been arrested.
NDTV has learnt that the Enforcement Directorate can also register a separate case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against the officers. The colleges tagged "suitable" earlier could also be re-examined.
Madhya Pradesh's Nursing Scam
An NDTV investigation last year found gross irregularities in the functioning of nursing colleges in Madhya Pradesh. Top officials in the health education department were found running nursing colleges that did not even have a campus. Some "colleges" were also found running from a few rooms.
In the aftermath of the shocking revelations, the state nursing council cancelled the affiliation of 19 colleges. Following a high court order, the CBI investigation started a probe into the functioning of 670 colleges registered in 2020-21.
The CBI Twist
In its report on 308 nursing colleges, the CBI tagged 169 colleges as "fit", 66 as "unfit" and 73 as "deficient".
Among these was a government college in Rewa that was declared "unfit". On the other hand, a college that was tagged "fit" had the address of a rented building from which a school was running.
It is alleged that the officers of the central probe agency were providing "fit" tags in exchange for bribes. The CBI team would charge between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh to tag an "unfit" college "fit".
The investigation revealed that the bribery cartel functioned through Rajasthan. A middleman would send the bribes to Jaipur and it would then be routed to a CBI officer, the probe has found.
CBI officers Rahul Raj, Sushil Kumar Majoka and Rishi Kant Asathe have been arrested. Deputy SP Ashish Prasad is also an accused.
Rahul Raj, it is alleged, would coordinate with middlemen and share the schedule of CBI inspections, fix and collect bribe amounts, and provide a suitability report. He was caught red-handed while accepting Rs 10 lakh as a bribe, it is learnt.
Codewords such as "Chaach Glass", "Achar Ki Barni" and "Kilo Aam" were used to relay messages.
The CBI has searched 31 locations across Madhya Pradesh and Jaipur and found over Rs 2.3 crore in cash, four gold bars and incriminating documents.
The Rule Change
The gross irregularities coming to the fore in the functioning of nursing colleges in Madhya Pradesh played out against the backdrop of the changes in the state government's guidelines for such institutions this year.
Earlier, such a college could only function if it had an area of at least 23,000 square feet. This minimum area requirement was reduced to 8,000 square feet. The 10:1 ratio of assistant professor and students was also tweaked to 20:1.
The minimum area for a nursing lab was revised from 1500 square metres to 900 metres.
NDTV's investigation had earlier found that many nursing colleges were running without proper faculty or infrastructure. One faculty member was found teaching in at least 10 colleges across three cities -- as principal in some and associate professor in others. NDTV also found colleges that have no faculty hand out "certificates".
Nursing Students Affected
Trapped in the web of corruption are the students, who stare at an uncertain future. Amid allegations of irregularities, about a lakh students waited for four years for their exams.
The exams have finally started now, but the 12,000 students of colleges, that were declared "unfit", have been left in the lurch.