The scams in the National Medical Commission and the Pharmacy Council of India are even bigger than the infamous Vyapam scandal, says party leader Dr Onika Mehrotra
NEW DELHI — The Congress has demanded that BJP president and Union Health Minister JP Nadda be held accountable for the massive bribery scams in the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) recently unearthed by the CBI.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here on Monday, Congress leader Dr Onika Mehrotra said that at the centre of the NMC scandal, wherein bribes worth crores were reportedly taken from private institutions in exchange for NMC recognition, is Dr Jitu Lal Meena, a former member of the Medical Assessment and Rating Board. She added that Dr Meena’s rise from being a doctor at a rural Primary Health Centre in Gujarat to holding a prominent position in the NMC was facilitated by Narendra Modi, first as chief minister of Gujarat and then as prime minister.
She asked who would take responsibility when a person close to PM Modi was named at the centre of this scandal. “Is the prime minister aware of this individual’s involvement?” she asked. She questioned why the BJP President and Union Health Minister JP Nadda was not held accountable for the multi-crore bribery scheme unfolding right under his nose within his own ministry?
Dr Mehrotra asked whether the Union Health Ministry was unaware of the scale of these scams or was silently complicit. “How could such widespread manipulation of inspections, approvals, and biometric systems happen without the tacit approval from above?” she questioned.
She wondered how the inspection process was shifted to an online system without the ministry’s knowledge. “If the ministry was aware, why was this malpractice not detected and stopped earlier?” she asked.
The senior Congress leader wanted to know whether the CBI would investigate the links of the accused named in the FIR with the BJP leadership. “Will the CBI name BJP President JP Nadda, without whose involvement these massive scams couldn’t have taken place?” she asked.
“Will PM Modi now seek immediate resignation of Shri JP Nadda from the posts of Union Health Minister and BJP president?” she asked, while pointing out that Nadda boasts of increasing the number of medical seats in the country and now the country knows how these medical seats were being manufactured under these fake medical colleges.
Dr Mehrotra observed that the massive scams, one in the National Medical Commission (NMC) and another in the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), exposed by the CBI, aren’t just another blip; they’re even bigger than the infamous Vyapam scam.
That scam was a massive admission and recruitment racket that took place in Madhya Pradesh, primarily involving the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB), known as Vyapam. The scam involved systemic corruption where individuals, including politicians, officials, and businessmen, bribed officials to manipulate entrance exams and recruitment processes.
