New Delhi: Lancet has criticized what it described as “systemic corruption and inefficiencies” at the National Medical Commission (NMC) after a corruption scandal surfaced about India top medical education regulator.
The prestigious medical journal’s report was published on 19 July, raising concerns about the integrity of medical education and, in turn, the future quality of healthcare in the country.
On 30 June, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a criminal case naming 34 individuals, including officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the NMC and a few doctors responsible for inspecting Shri Rawatpura Sarkar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Nava Raipur.
This happened after searches at over 40 places across five states. The CBI findings detail how government officials joined hands with private medical colleges to manipulate the regulatory process.
Three NMC inspectors and three officials at the Shri Rawatpura Sarkar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Nava Raipur were arrested while exchanging ₹55 lakh. The NMC inspectors allegedly took the bribe for approving the college.
According to the CBI, health ministry officials gained unauthorized access to confidential information on the regulatory status of medical colleges, including inspection schedules and compositions of inspection teams. The information was shared with intermediaries who, in turn, alerted the medical colleges concerned.
“Such prior disclosure enabled medical colleges to orchestrate fraudulent arrangements including the bribing of assessors to secure favourable inspection reports, deployment of non-existent or proxy faculty (ghost faculty) and the admission of fictitious patients to artificially project compliance during inspections,” said the Lancet report citing the FIR filed by CBI.
Lancet said that NMC “lacks a clear action plan and is hindered by centralized power and bureaucratic inefficiencies.”
The NMC stated on July 14 that it is taking the corruption scandal “very seriously”. It has decided to blacklist four assessors and will not renew seats for six medical colleges for the 2025-26 academic year.
The annual intake for MBBS courses in India is about 118,000. With 1·3 million registered practitioners, India has one doctor for every 1,263 people while the World Health Organization recommends one per 1000.
The report said that in an effort to address the shortage of doctors, the government has launched a drive to increase MBBS places, aiming for 75,000 new seats over the next five years.
“This push has resulted in the hurried opening of new medical colleges and the expansion of existing ones. The NMC has even relaxed rules for faculty appointments to address shortages and support this expansion. Under pressure to rapidly expand undergraduate and postgraduate seats without long-term vision or adequate capacity, the NMC has increasingly mirrored the functioning of the (discredited predecessor) MCI,” the report said.
The report pointed out that if NMC focuses solely on quantity, the quality of future doctors will be compromised, impacting healthcare delivery, highlighting the critical need for the NMC to uphold and enforce standards in medical education to safeguard public health in India.
Commenting on the Lancet report, Dr Dilip Bhanusahli, President of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), expressed deep concern about the bribery scandal within medical education. He stated that the NMC’s involvement has severely damaged its image and public trust.
“IMA strongly demands strictest and time bound punishment to all the accused and institutional mechanisms to prevent such recurrence. We request the government to involve the IMA in matters of health & medical education of the country.”
Concerns were also raised about new medical colleges not having enough facilities or teaching staff. Bhanusahli called for a strong law to protect healthcare workers, quick action against fake doctors, and stopping “Mixopathy” (combining different medical systems).
Queries sent to the health ministry spokesperson, Lancet journal and NMC secretary remained unanswered till press time.
