Bhopal:

A group of Central Bureau of Investigation officers probing the nursing scam of Madhya Pradesh have allegedly become part of it. Over the weekend, four officers — one of them a Deputy Superintendent — have been arrested for allegedly accepting bribes. The Central agency has filed cases against 23 people in the case.

In August last year, recognition of 19 nursing colleges was cancelled. There were allegations that ‘ghost’ nursing colleges were being run in the state.

The next month, the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered a CBI probe into all 670 nursing colleges registered in the state in 2020-21.

NDTV investigated how many nursing colleges were running without proper faculty or infrastructure. One faculty member was found teaching in at least 10 colleges across three cities — as principal in some and associate professor in others. NDTV also found colleges that have no faculty hand out “certificates”.

The arrested CBI officers include Deputy Superintendent Ashish Prasad and Inspector Rahul Raj. The First Information Report claims both officers were involved in criminal conspiracy with other members of inspection team. They had given clearance to various nursing colleges in exchange for bribes, the FIR alleged.

Rahul Raj was in touch with middlemen for sharing the schedule of CBI inspections, fixing and collecting bribe amounts, and providing suitability report.

The bribe money collected by this cartel from each nursing college varied between Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh and it was shared later.

Sources said in addition to this amount, Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 was paid to each nursing officer and the specialist attached with the CBI team.

On Saturday, inspector Raj was allegedly caught red-handed while accepting Rs 10 lakh from one Anil Bhaskaran and his wife Suma Anil.

Later, the Delhi CBI conducted searches at 31 places in Bhopal, Indore, Ratlam and Jaipur and effected recoveries of over Rs 2.3 crore in cash, 4 gold bars, 36 digital devices and over 150 incriminating documents.

Asked about the matter, Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav said, “have to learn from past mistakes”.

His government has amended one of the primary requirements to establish a nursing college.

Under new rules for 2024, an institution needs at least 8,150 square feet of space. This, however, is a massive downgrade from the current 19,060 square feet.

The Indian Nursing Council mandates at least 23,720 square feet, in addition to other requirements like a certain number of faculty members, a canteen and a library, and a 100-bed hospital.