According to media reports, to get NMC recognition, the medical college lured healthy people from many villages and admitted them as patients to meet the OPD-IPD standards, in exchange for money. Further, the hospital allegedly hired fake doctors to meet the Apex Medical Commission's norms.
Uncovering this scam, the CBI has already arrested the director of SRIMSR, Atul Kumar Tiwari. Further, the bureau has named the Chairman of the medical college, Ravi Shankar Maharaj, in the First Information Report (FIR).
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that CBI had issued an official statement mentioning that a case was registered against the office-bearers of Shri Rawatpura Sarkar Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Nava Raipur, Chhattisgarh, inspecting doctors; and other intermediaries for manipulating the statutory inspection process conducted for recognition of the medical college, in return for bribes. The designated assessors allegedly gave favourable reports to various medical colleges in exchange for illegal gratification.
Acting on information that officials of Shn Rawatpura Sarkar Institute were influencing assessors deputed for inspection to provide favourable reports in return for bribes, the CBI laid a trap and apprehended six individuals while they were transacting the bribe amount of Rs 55 Lakh. As demanded by the inspecting doctors, the bribe amount was delivered in Bengaluru, the CBI stated.
Also Read: Bribes for favourable medical college inspection reports- CBI arrests 3 doctors
Healthy Villagers Posed as Patients:
As per the latest media report by Dainik Bhaskar, the college allegedly lured healthy people from many villages including Pacheda, Tulsi, Cakhtra, and Bhakhara. These villagers were brought to the hospital by bus and in exchange, Rs 200 was paid to the patient's agent in the name of each person.
The Daily has further reported that the third-year and final-year medical students studying in the institute were allegedly introduced to the NMC inspection team as faculty staff.
An attendant at SRIMSR, Lokesh Sinha, informed Bhaskar that Mitanin and quack doctors manage the hospital by making healthy people patients. Allegedly, the SRIMSR management had creatd a system of patient agents to keep the patient flow in accordance with the standards and to avoid hospital fraud.
Under this system, youths from Pacheda, Bakhtra, Tulsi villages were posted as ward attendants in the hospital. However, in reality, they were made to work as patient agents and their job was to get healthy people from the villagers registered in the hospital. Reportedly, just before the NMC team inspected the college for recognition of the MBBS course, a large number of healthy people were brought to the hospital by declaring them sick. Allegedly, this practice was being adopted for more than three years. Bhaskar has reported that the college used to get the list of inspectors a week before the NMC inspection.
For instance, Shanta Bai, a 70-year-old resident of Pacheda village, is healthy. However, she informed that she used to get Rs 150 per day for going to Rawatpura Medical College as patient. She reportedly used to go there for two days a week. A bus used to come from the college and she used to go to college by the same bus. She had also gone to Rawatpura Medical College Hospital as a patient two months ago. Then she got Rs. 200 for two days.
The Daily has reported about another case concerning a 65-year-old resident, Chaturam, of Pacheda Village. He informed that he was not ill in June-July, but he went to the hospital as a patient and for this, he was supposed to get Rs 100 per day, which he allegedly has not received till now. Last year also, he allegedly got admitted to the hospital 5 times without any illness. After coming home, the hospital agent gave him money to become a patient.
Rs 150 paid to each fake patient:
The Daily has reported that the college management used to give Rs 200 to the patient agent for registering each healthy person as a patient in the hospital. Meanwhile, the agent, who brought the patient, used to give Rs 25 as commission to the health worker (mitanin) who sent the patient from the village and used to keep Rs 25 for himself.
Commenting on the matter, villagers from Tulsi Bakhtra, Kurru Cheria, and Sundarkara told NDTV how they were paid as little as Rs 150 to spend the day lying in hospital beds during official inspections. They were brought to the hospital in buses and used to be registered under fake names and ailments and made to sit or lie in hospital wards. All of this used to be done to show inflated OPD and IPD numbers to the inspection teams.
"This is not just fraud, it's exploitation," said a villager, who posed as a fake patient. Manohar Sahu, a villager from Sundarkela, said, "I had gone to the hospital in June. They had called us to get photos taken. Four of us went and were paid Rs 600 for a day. Many people like me had gone."
Another villager from Sundarkela, Tulsi, said, "We carried two bags from our house and went, and others from nearby homes also went. We were paid Rs 300, but the rest got Rs 150 each. We waited the whole day. Five children were also kept till evening for the test."
"They took us in the same way. My arms and legs were aching. They clicked photos. We left in a bus at 9 AM and stayed till evening. They haven't paid yet. They said Rs 150 would be given. Many people had gone on the bus from the other hamlet, only three or four from ours. Haven't received money this time, but got it last time we went," said another villager.
Final-year students posed as Faculties:
As per NDTV report, the college allegedly used final-year students as faculty to fabricate the image of a functional hospital. Meanwhile, the agents received commissions for bringing fake patients to the hospital. As per the sources, all of this was planned ahead of the NMC inspection as the date of inspection was leaked to the college in advance.
Bribes paid to the MC Inspection Team:
Further, Bhaskar has reported that the NMC inspectors who inspected the medical college were instructed to prepare a favourable inspection report in exchange for bribes. Such bribes were allegedly paid to NMC officers, inspectors, and officers of the Union Health Ministry through hawala before the inspection.
Allegedly, during the inspection, the inspectors only completed the formalities in the inspection and did not question the patients. The team members did not question the OPD and IPD patients about their illness and treatment arrangements. This is allegedly due to collusion of the college management with the officers posted in the recognition and inspection branch of the NMC.
FIR by the Central Bureau of Investigation:
Already, CBI has registered an FIR in this connection. As per the FIR, the NMC inspectors were reportedly bribed through hawala channels to give favourable reports. CBI started taking action against the medical college on July 1, 2025. The Bureau arrested six people, including Atul Tiwari, and seized Rs 55 lakh in cash.
It conducted raids at over 40 locations across states, uncovering a deeper network of corruption that included 35 named accused. Some of the bribes were tracked to Bengaluru, which suggested that this was a widespread and well-funded operation.
Commenting on the matter, State Health Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal told NDTV, "The government is working within the rules and regulations. We are also conducting our own inquiry to examine how licenses were granted in the past. Some licenses are still under process, while others were issued through the Government of India. Whatever falls under the jurisdiction of the state government will be dealt with transparently. We will follow the guidelines of the Medical Council of India and take action accordingly. The findings that have emerged from the investigation are concerning. Incidents like these tarnish the reputation of the state."
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported how CBI had uncovered widespread bribery and collusion between government officials and private medical colleges in India. On June 30, 2025, CBI filed a criminal case alleging collusion between government officials and private medical colleges to manipulate the regulatory process.
In the FIR, CBI had named 34 individuals, including eight officials at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Joint Director of the National Health Agency (who was formerly a member of the Medical Assessment and Rating Board), the former Chairman of the University Grants Commission, and doctors deputed by the federal medical regulator the National Medical Commission (NMC) to inspect medical colleges, in addition to officials at seven medical colleges.
Back then, three NMC inspectors and three officials at the Shri Rawatpura Sarkar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Nava Raipur were arrested while exchanging 5ยท5 million rupees.
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