JAGATSINGHPUR: In a major breakthrough, police on Friday arrested the director of a dubious nursing training institute, who had been absconding since 2015 after being accused of providing fake certificates to hundreds of aspirants here. The accused, Dillip Kumar Barik, had been produced before the court.
The arrest was made after an FIR was filed against the institute on 15 July, 2015 by Kakanlata Das of Manadashai village under Jagatsinghpur police limits.
Accompanied by 50 other victims, Das had also sought the intervention of the Chief District Medical Officer and the State Health department in the matter.
“Police had registered a case against three staffers of the fake institute. The chairman and the cashier were on the run. The institute had collected `10,000 from each candidate for admissions into nursing courses,” said Jagatsinghpur police station IIC Rajanikant Mishra.
Meanwhile, locals alleged that the authorities of some hospitals were also involved in the case as they accepted the students of the institute as trainees, posing a risk to the patients’ lives. Sources further claimed that many of these nurses with fake degrees are working in hospitals and clinics across the district.
The future of hundreds of nursing students in the district is apparently at stake. Alleging that several nursing training institutes here are not affiliated to the Indian Nursing Council, the students said they face difficulties in securing a job outside the State.
“There are only six private nursing institutes in the district. The Health department has proposed to set up a general nursing and midwifery institute in Paradip soon. Stern action will be taken against those, who are operating fake nursing institutes here,” said Chief District Medical Officer Sarat Kumar Sahu.