Overview

• ED searches at private medical colleges in West Bengal and Odisha recovered forged NRI certificates, counterfeit US notary stamps, and fabricated family trees.
• Investigators say the scheme touched roughly 18,000 MBBS and PG seats reserved under the NRI quota, with Indian missions confirming many certificates as fake.
• Colleges allegedly worked with agents who reused one NRI’s credentials for multiple candidates, and fees were often paid by students’ families rather than the NRI sponsor.
• For the 2025–26 session, DGHS, MEA, and MCC now require embassy-issued certificates to be verified, with admissions based on fake papers to be canceled and penalties imposed; unfilled NRI seats will revert to the management quota.
• ED has attached assets linked to involved colleges and alerted states, and a senior West Bengal health official said action against a medical college will follow.