The state government submitted applications to the Madhya Pradesh High Court for the list of eligible nursing colleges and admission permissions. The court directed the CBI to investigate irregularities, finding 169 out of 308 colleges operating legally, 74 not meeting requirements, and 65 unqualified.
The state government submitted two applications in the nursing college matter before the MP High Court’s division bench on Tuesday. The requests asked the court to provide them access to the list of colleges that the CBI deemed eligible and to grant admission to nursing colleges for the upcoming academic year.
Following the court’s direction for the CBI to look into the allegations of serious irregularities against the nursing college, the CBI presented the court with reports on 308 nursing institutions. Of the 308 nursing colleges the agency looked at, it discovered that 169 were operated correctly, 74 did not meet criteria, and 65 were not allowed to operate at all.
In the previous hearing, one of the petitioners’ attorneys, Advocate Alok Bagrecha, informed the court that the CBI had only looked into the matters of colleges connected to the MP Medical University and had excluded colleges connected to the MP Nursing Registration Council. Subsequently, the court directed the CBI to investigate the colleges connected to the MP Nursing Registration Council and designate a retired high court judge to assess the ways in which the institutions, deemed ineligible and inadequate, could be enhanced to conform to the standards necessary to operate a nursing college.
The two applications filed by the state government and the name of the retired judge who will be appointed to look into the possibility of raising the standards of nursing colleges that do not meet the requirements to operate a nursing college were the subjects of a bench reserved by Justice Sanjay Dwivedi and Justice A K Paliwal on Tuesday.
In response to a petition filed by Vishal Baghel, who claimed that 55 new nursing colleges had been approved by the MP Nursing Registration Council to open in the state’s tribal districts in 2020–21, the high court ordered a CBI investigation into the operations of every nursing college in the state.
Although the majority of these colleges lack the necessary infrastructure to operate a nursing college, the sanction was granted following a thorough inspection and physical verification of the facilities present in the proposed colleges. Instead, they lack adequate labs and other equipment and are operated out of tiny dwellings.The court called documents pertaining to approvals granted to nursing schools around the state during the hearing.
In addition to a deficiency in infrastructure, the documents exposed “fake” faculty members and principals who appeared to be employed by the colleges on paper. A single individual was displayed as a faculty member at five or more dissimilar colleges, located hundreds of kilometers apart.
Subsequently, the court mandated the registrar of the MP Nursing Council to be suspended immediately and an administrator to be appointed in his place. Subsequently, the court discovered that the administrator had been dismissed and replaced with the registrar. Little has been done to punish the former registrar. The director of medical education was subsequently called before the court and apologized to it.
Later, the chief justice ordered a CBI investigation into the matters and moved all of the petitions pertaining to allegedly improper authorization granted to nursing colleges to the principal bench.
Conclusion
The list of accredited nursing schools and admission permits for the upcoming academic year are requests that the state administration has made in two applications to the MP High Court. A CBI investigation into allegations of serious irregularities against nursing colleges was mandated by the court.
The investigation concluded that 169 of the 308 colleges were operating legally, 74 were not meeting requirements, and 65 were not qualified to operate at all. The court directed the CBI to investigate the institutions connected to the MP Nursing Registration Council and designated a retired high court judge to assess the colleges’ potential for improvement in order to comply with the standards necessary to operate as nursing colleges. In addition, the court mandated the appointment of an administrator and the suspension of the MP Nursing Council’s registrar.
