22 FMGs booked in Maharashtra for allegedly using fake documents to get medical council registration without clearing FMGE
Mumbai: A total of 22 foreign medical graduates have been booked for allegedly uploading fake and suspicious documents on the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) portal to obtain temporary registration, even though they have not cleared the mandatory screening test, i.e., the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE).
The Maharashtra Nodal Cyber Police registered cases against these students after the State Medical Council recently approached the cyber police in this regard.
Maharashtra medical council, in an internal scrutiny of its online portal, allegedly found that more than 30 FMGs obtained temporary registration without clearing the screening test by submitting fake documents.
According to the existing rules by the National Medical Commission (NMC), after obtaining their undergraduate medical degrees from abroad, the FMGs are required to clear the FMGE screening test and thereafter undergo the mandatory internship to be eligible to practice medicine in India. Only after clearing the screening test, the FMGs get provisional registration, which is required for being allotted internship seats, from the State Medical Council.
How medical council Found the Discrepancies?
As per the latest media report by the Times of India, in the complaint, Maharashtra medical council registrar Rakesh Waghmare stated that the issue came to light on August 7 when the council computer operator Bhosale and senior clerk Patiya noticed suspicious documents in the online profiles of some of the FMGs.
Allegedly, these candidates had not cleared the FMGE screening test, conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS). Waghmare reportedly checked the login profiles of the candidates who had failed to clear the FMGE test and were temporarily registered on the Council's online portal.
He allegedly found fake and suspicious documents uploaded in the profiles of 22 candidates. When Waghmare informed the state medical coucnil administrator, Dr. Vinky Rughwani, about this, he directed Waghmare to approach the cyber police.
It was further alleged in the complaint that the accused candidates created or uploaded forged and suspicious documents through the FMG Council's online portal with the intention to secure registration. Waghmare further submitted that the documents and other material available with the medical council to the investigating agency.
Currently, the Nodal Cyber Police Station is conducting an investigation into the alleged forgery, unauthorised access and use of the online registration system.
TOI has reported that the medical council verification reportedly identified more than 30 such candidates. The Cyber police will examine the documents that were uploaded by the candidates, along with their login records, IP addresses, application details and other digital evidence in order to determine whether the documents submitted were forged and whether any person or intermediary helped them in the alleged fraud.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the irregularity concerning the FMG registration came to light after last year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR in this regard back in 2022. CBI 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).
Last year, the the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) issued notices to a total of seven foreign medical graduates for allegedly securing registration with the Council without clearing the mandatory screening test, i.e., Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE), by using wrongful means.
Also Read: Maharashtra Medical Council issues notice to 7 FMGs for illegal registration
