Uttarakhand orders probe into fake certificates in admission to medical colleges

Uttarakhand Medical Education Minister Subodh Uniyal has ordered a district-level enquiry into allegations that fraudulent permanent residence and freedom fighter dependent certificates were used for admission to medical colleges in the state.

He has asked the Dehradun district magistrate to submit a report within a week, as the medical admission and counselling process is currently under way.

The move follows a complaint by Pradeep Bahuguna, who met Uniyal on Friday and submitted a list of around 350 candidates whose documents, he said, require verification.

Bahuguna said he was not claiming that all the certificates were fake, but maintained that available records and admission-related information raised enough suspicion to warrant an official enquiry.

Uniyal said the government was taking the matter seriously and that instructions had been issued to complete the investigation quickly so that the status of suspicious cases could be clarified before the admission process concludes.

He said initial enquiries had found some certificates to be fake, and that complaints had also been received regarding permanent residence certificates.

If any permanent residence or freedom fighter dependent certificate was fraudulently issued to an outsider, he said, it would be a serious matter.

Explaining why he sought an enquiry into 350 candidates, Bahuguna told news agency PTI that he had compiled a list of candidates involved in medical admissions whose documents needed verification.

He pointed out that many of them had completed their high school and intermediate education outside Uttarakhand, and that some had taken the NEET examination in states such as Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

He, however, said that studying in another state or appearing for NEET elsewhere was not in itself proof of a forged certificate.

Bahuguna said, "I am not saying that the certificates of all these individuals are fake. But an investigation into their documents is essential. I have identified around 350 names, and it is possible that the actual number of such cases is higher."

He sought an enquiry into whether permanent residence and other certificates used to claim state quota or special category status were issued according to the rules.

According to Bahuguna, the issue first emerged during scrutiny of documents submitted by some candidates applying under the dependent of a freedom fighter category.

He said the list of candidates and their certificate numbers was available on the website, but that during cross-verification with online records, some certificate numbers could not be found on the portal.

In one case, he claimed, the recorded certificate or application number appeared to be linked to a different person. In another, the online application status was shown as "pending" even though the candidate had already been allotted a medical seat.

These claims have not been independently verified.

Bahuguna said his initial enquiry had raised questions about four dependents of freedom fighter certificates linked to the same family.

He said that after a complaint, officials carried out a verification exercise and cancelled the certificates after finding them to be forged.

He added that the investigation should not remain limited to a few cases and should instead be carried out on a wider scale. He has also sought a probe into the possibility of an organised network operating in the matter.

The Dehradun administration carried out surprise inspections at several Common Service Centres in the district on September 17, although it has not directly linked that action to the allegations surrounding MBBS admissions.

Acting on the instructions of District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan, authorities sealed four CSCs and seized some computers and laptops after detecting irregularities.

The administration said the action was taken because of irregularities in the functioning of the centres and in their compliance with regulations.

Rohit Negi, a CSC operator in Dehradun, told PTI that the role of a CSC is generally limited to filling online applications and uploading documents to the portal.

After that, he said, the application moves through the government system, and in cases such as permanent residence certificates, the document is issued only after approval by the competent authority following verification at the level of the tehsil, revenue officials or the patwari.

In view of the complaints, questions are also being raised about the role of officials involved in verification and approval.

Uniyal said the matter had come to his notice while he was in Australia and that he had issued directions for an enquiry to the district magistrate from there.

He said the probe would examine not just the role of a person using a certificate, but also the stage in the issuance process at which any irregularity may have occurred, and indicated that a larger racket could be involved.

He also referred to complaints related to Aadhaar, including allegations that a single individual may have four or five Aadhaar records, though he said these claims were yet to be investigated.

He added that if any irregularity linked to Aadhaar or CSC processes comes to light, that too will be investigated, and if a candidate is found to have secured admission on the basis of a forged certificate, steps such as cancellation of admission could follow.

The enquiry is now expected to examine the certificates flagged by the complainant, the process through which they were issued, and whether any wider network or official lapse was involved, at a time when admissions to medical colleges in Uttarakhand are still under way.- Ends(With PTI inputs)Published By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Sep 19, 2026 13:43 IST