Remove president of nursing council: Members to PMO

In February, the Patiala district court had framed charges against Dileepkumar for allegedly accepting bribe in 2006 from six nursing institutes across the country, which had failed to clear inspection.

The members of the Indian Nursing Council (INC) wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on May 6, seeking the removal of its serving president, T Dileepkumar, who is accused in a ₹225-crore corruption case. The members alleged that the witnesses in the 2006 scam are INC employees, and thus, the accused has been exercising his power to hamper an independent trial. The council is the regulatory body for nurses and education pertaining to nursing in India.

Representational image (AP)

In February, the Patiala district court had framed charges against Dileepkumar for allegedly accepting bribe in 2006 from six nursing institutes across the country, which had failed to clear inspection. The inspection report by the health ministry-appointed executive committee is instrumental in granting a recognised qualification to a university.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a first information report (FIR) against Dileepkumar and others in 2006 for forging documents and charges of taking money for the same. “It has been 13 years since the FIR was filed, but he continues to serve as the INC president,” said Ramling Mali, former president of Maharashtra Nursing Council (MNC) and INC member.

Mali said that the witnesses in this case are INC management staff, the inspection team members who had conducted the inspection of the six institutes in 2006 and the heads of the institutes themselves, who are accused of bribing Dileepkumar. “There is a huge possibility that he uses his position and power to intimidate the witnesses in the case,” Mali added.