Regulatory lapse? Names of FMGs booked for fraud still on Maharashtra Medical Council portal
FMGs Booked for Fraud
Mumbai: The names of seven medical graduates from abroad, who were suspended from the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) for fraudulently securing registration, are still appearing on the official website of the council, raising serious concerns about the regulatory lapses.
Apart from the medical council website, their names also feature in the MMC electoral rolls. Due to this error, these FMGs now have the right to contest or vote in council elections.
Advocate Tushar Bhosale flagged the ongoing lapse, warning that it misleads patients and questioned whether fake FMGE results were accepted without verification. MMC administrator Dr. Vinky Rughwani has assured corrective action.
As per the latest media report by Free Press Journal, shockingly, some are still practising in the State and are even employed as insurance medical practitioners with the Employees' State Insurance Corporation. These FMGs had failed to clear the screening test i.e. Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE). Clearing the FMGE test is mandatory for registration with the MMC.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the irregularity in this regard came to light after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR in this regard back in 2022. The Central Bureau of Investigations started its investigation across the country, suspecting a major racket of many unqualified foreign medical graduates practising in India without valid council registrations.
It claimed that 73 medical graduates from abroad across 14 State Medical Councils, including the MMC, obtained registration without clearing the FMGE exam conducted by the National Board of Examinations (NBE).
FPJ has reported, highlighting that the names of 7 FMGs who were suspended for fraud are still on the Maharashtra Medical Council website, Advocate Tushar Bhosale, wrote to the MMC.
He said, "This allows them to still pose as registered practitioners, misleading patients into believing they are genuine doctors."
Accordingly, he urged MMC to clarify whether these doctors submitted fake FMGE results or were registered without result verification. As per the complainant, some of these doctors even renewed their registration despite failing the screening test, while some of them obtained postgraduate diplomas from the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS).
Commenting on the matter, the MMC Administrator, Dr. Vinky Rughwani said that he would verify the matter and take the necessary corrective measures.
CBI had booked these FMGs under the Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to abuse of official position, criminal conspiracy, forgery, cheating, criminal misconduct and abetment of offences. Further, they were booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Apart from the 73 FMGs, the case also named unknown public servants of various state medical councils and private individuals.
