Viral NMC Letter threatening Action Against Doctor for Acting as Ghost Faculty is FAKE, clarifies NMC official

New Delhi: The National Medical Commission (NMC) allegedly initiated police action against a doctor, who works as a ghost faculty at a Sindhudurg-based medical college, a copy of an alleged letter by NMC, which has become viral on social media platforms, claimed.

However, in response to the queries raised by Medical Dialogues regarding the same, an official from the National Medical Commission (NMC) has confirmed that the communication in question is FAKE.

The Claim: 

The alleged letter dated February 03, 2024, was issued in the name of the Director of the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of NMC, Dr. Shambhu Sharan Kumar and it started circulating on social media platforms.

Writing to a doctor belonging to a hospital-based in Kolhapur, the letter in question mentioned how NMC is very serious to weed out Ghost/Part time faculties in Medical colleges and proposes strict action against doctors and Institutions engaging in such unethical practices.

The letter mentioned that NMC received a written complaint claiming that the concerned doctor was engaging in unethical practices of only attending NMC inspections OR attending colleges part-time once or twice a week or once or twice a month at a Singhydurg-based medical college.

"Your case is being handed over to police and income tax authorities to investigate and report genuineness of allegations against you," read the letter.

In this regard, the letter referred to NMC's Professional Conduct Regulations [NMC RMP (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 2023] and pointed out that Section 37, which defines Professional Misconduct by a doctor. 

The concerned regulations state, "37. Professional Misconduct: Any violation of these Regulations, or other applicable Acts related to medical practice which are in force, shall constitute professional misconduct. By issuing these Regulations, the EMRB, NMC, and the State Medical Councils are in no way precluded from considering and dealing with any other form of professional misconduct by registered medical practitioners which do not fall under any of the categories mentioned in the regulations or guidelines or codes appended. RMPs bound by these Regulations will not engage in any activities which violate these regulations and should not enter any employment or other contract that engages in activities in violation of any of these regulations. Conviction of RMP in cases of a cognizable offence involving moral turpitude may result in the suspension of license to practice."

However, in the said letter, NMC allegedly mentioned that "Conviction of RMP in cases of a cognizable offence involving moral turpitude may result in the suspension of license to practice from 3 months to permanently."

Apart from this, the letter further mentioned that it came to know that many ghost faculties are actively assisting the institution to make finger prints or Adhaar enabled biometric attendance system, which makes a person accomplice to the same.

In this regard, the letter referred to the Aadhar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 to highlight the penalty for impersonation and general penalty rules. The letter highlighted that as per these rules, penalty for impersonation may extend to three years of impersonation or a fine of ten thousand rupees or with both. It further pointed out that whoever commits an offence under this Act may face imprisonment for a period extending up to four years or with a fine extending to one lakh rupees, or with both.

"This is the last time warning to you to dissociated from medical colleges, if you are ghost, irregular/part time faculty and with active cooperation in creating fake fingerprints for AEBAS, Continuing being fake/ghost/Part time faculty will invite penalty as per NMC professional conduct rules causing suspension of registration and Jail term (Upto 4 years) under UIDAI act, as an accomplice to impersonation," the alleged letter stated.

"Your name has been forwarded to concerned authorities to take action, if you appear for any NMC inspections at ANY MEDICAL COLLEGES IN FUTURE, for further action as outlined above," the letter mentioned, adding "Please ignore this communication if you are not a faculty or not attached to any medical college."

However, when the Medical Dialogues team reached out to NMC officials to check the veracity of the letter, an official in the Commission confirmed that the letter was FAKE.

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