The court is currently dealing with a case about nursing colleges that have been dishonestly recognized and affiliated by the nursing council.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court took some important decisions on Tuesday regarding the nursing scam in the state. “40 instances of the fraud were moved from the Gwalior court to the central court in Jabalpur.” The court said no to the nursing council’s request to shut down 19 nursing colleges in the state.” These colleges had their registration canceled because they made false claims about having enough faculty members. Many of these schools, to be precise, six of them, can be found in Gwalior.
The court is looking into a situation where some nursing colleges are being investigated for giving out fake approvals and partnerships. This investigation is related to the involvement of the nursing council. Vishal Baghel, who leads the Madhya Pradesh Law Student Association, believes that these colleges received permission because influential politicians pushed for it. He also says that many of these colleges aren’t real – they only exist on paper or are very small places for teaching.
In 2020, Stella Peter, who was an inspector at that time, suggested approving 46 colleges. But during the 2021 check, it turned out that there were 70 fake colleges. Strangely, 16 of the ones she recommended were among the fakes.
Ms. Peter was a member of the nursing council’s executive committee in 2020. The council initially approved 660 colleges, but then they changed their minds and took away recognition from more than 200 of them.
The petitioners informed the court that Ms. Peter got promoted and later became the registrar of the nursing council.
At the hearing, the director of medical education said they moved Sunita Shiju, the former registrar, from Bhopal to Indore.
Now, the Jabalpur High Court will decide on the next steps in this complicated case. They will also decide if the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should handle the case.
The court has planned the next session for one week from now.