Click to play videoNew Delhi: While Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss is busy fighting his own little battles with doctors and AIIMS authorities, a systematic rot is setting into the medical fraternity with fake doctors operating unchecked, undetected.
But the question remains if the Medical Council knows where the problem is, why isn’t any action being taken?
One reason, as the Special Investigation Team finds, is the involvement of those who are supposed to expose these problems: the police.
The MCI is a statutory body and so it can de-register a doctor if found that he has a fake degree.
But the MCI prefers to file a police complaint with the police and this is where corruption sets in.
It allows fake doctors to get away scot-free.
Retired inspector OP Kaushik was the Investigating Officer in several cases against doctors with fake degrees.
To find out how the police allowed such doctors to escape the law, a member of the CNN-IBN Special Investigation Team went undercover and approached him posing as a doctor.
Kaushik came straight to the point: did we have admission to a medical college using a fake Class 12 marksheet or did we have a fake MBBS degree?
He said the MCI is cautious nowadays and may not entertain a fake degree case
“MCI wale bhi bach ke kaam karte hain. Ye involve nahi hona chahte bilkul bhi, kyunki inki itni khichai ho rahi hai court mein. Inki zabardast khichai ho rahi hai to ye kuch karenge nahi (MCI is cautious these days as court is taking their case bigtime),” he said.
Kaushik said he will ensure the police case against us is closed. He also admitted that he has helped many doctors with fake degrees to escape the law.
“Kisi ka kuch nahi bigda, sab kaam kar rahe hai, issme ghabrane ki jaroorat nahi hai (There is no need to worry, nothing ever happens to anyone),” he said.
Kaushik then said that for Rs 1 lakh, he could get the case closed.
CNN-IBN: Isme kul kitna kharcha aayega? (How much will be the expenditure?)
Kaushik: Agar District Magistrate tak jaana padega, to paisa accha lag sakta hai. Bas ek laakh mein ho jayega. (If you want to take it to the District Magistrate level, it will cost more. Else Rs 1 lakh will be enough)
The SIT then we handed over Rs 1,000 to Kaushik as a token advance to get the job done.
Kaushik also boasts of the most complex case he had tackled - that of Dr Shiv Kumar. “Meri service ka sabse mushkil case tha. (It was the toughest case of my career),” he said.
The MCI had filed a complaint against Dr Kumar in 2001 for having a fake MD degree. He was arrested in 2003 but the case was closed in 2004. Kaushik admits to his role in the matter.
“Bahut mushkil case tha, ek saal, poora ek saal laga (It was a tough case and took me one year),” he said.
The MCI knew in 2001 that Shiv Kumar had a fake degree. They went through the motions of registering a case against him, after which a few palms were greased and corrupt police officers like Kaushik squashed the case.
And so, fake doctors like Shiv Kumar continue to toy with patients' lives.
(With inputs from Rohit Khanna)
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