The National Medical Commission (NMC) has frozen all approvals for new medical colleges, seat increases, and course renewals for the academic year 2025-26, Mirror has reported.
This sweeping decision comes in the wake of a massive bribery scandal that has rocked the country’s medical education system.
The move follows a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe that exposed how fraudulent approvals were allegedly granted to medical colleges lacking basic infrastructure, qualified faculty, and adequate patient care. In its nationwide crackdown, the CBI raided over 40 medical institutions across several states, including Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.
According to the CBI, bribes were taken to manipulate inspection outcomes and bypass regulatory norms. Mirror reports that the scam may be worth over Rs 1,000 crore.
As per Medical Dialogue, earlier, CBI uncovered a systematic racket involving officials from the Union Health Ministry, the NMC, and prominent figures from private medical colleges. As many as 34 individuals have been booked, including eight officials from the Union Health Ministry, a National Health Authority officer, five doctors from the NMC inspection team, and several administrators from private colleges.
Among those named are Swami Bhagat Vatsalyadasji of Swaminarayan Medical College in Kalol, Gujarat, and Guru Ravishankarji in Chhattisgarh, both accused of offering bribes in exchange for recognition and approvals.
So far, 36 arrests have been made, including 11 individuals from Central and state health departments and three doctors linked to private medical colleges.
In response, the NMC has halted all processing of applications related to:
Opening of new medical colleges
Increasing undergraduate (UG) or postgraduate (PG) seat intake
Renewing permissions for existing UG/PG seats
The commission also blacklisted a senior NMC assessor after the CBI found that he had accepted bribes to issue a favourable inspection report for a Karnataka-based private college.
Following this, NMC cancelled that college’s seat renewal and froze all applications for new courses or seat hikes submitted for this academic year.
To restore credibility, NMC will now deploy teams of senior professors to re-inspect existing colleges and ensure strict compliance with norms. Colleges have been warned that no exceptions will be made, added Medical Dialogues.
