Chandigarh: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has arrested former Registrar of Punjab Nursing Registration Council Mohali (PNRC) and Principal (retired) of Nursing Training School Gurdaspur, Charanjit Kaur Cheema and Dr Arvinderveer Singh Gill, resident of Basant Bihar, Hoshiarpur after investigating a complaint lodged against them.
Giving information in this regard, the spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau said that PNRC has been entrusted with the responsibility of granting recognition to nursing colleges/institutions established in Punjab by the State Government, allotment of seats and permissions for conducting ANM and GNM courses/exams. During investigation of a complaint received regarding cheating in admissions and examinations by this institution, it was found that K.D. College of Nursing, Mahilpur, Hoshiarpur was recognized by the Indian Nursing Council New Delhi through a letter dated 25.09.2019 and PNRC dated 29.11.2012, whereas much before the recognition of this college, admission forms and receipt numbers issued by PNRC Mohali were found.
The spokesperson disclosed that admission forms of 5 roll numbers belonging to this college were received but these admission forms/roll numbers were issued by PNRC to Princeton Institute of Nursing Gurdaspur. Fake admission list of these 5 students was prepared much before the college was recognized in October 2012 and on the basis of this admission list, cut list related to these roll numbers was issued on the receipt of examination form and examination fee of these students.
Besides, the admission list of 27 students belonging to GRD International Institute of Nursing Tanda Udmud, Hoshiarpur was prepared and uploaded on the website by PNRC. Subsequently, in the revised list of 30 students of this college, admissions pertaining to 2 roll numbers of KD College of Nursing Mahilpur were shown.
The spokesperson further said that thus, the admissions of students of the said two colleges, the lists issued in respect of these roll numbers and the transfer/adjustment of students took place during the deployment of the dealing hand of the examination branch of PNRC.
Further, the administration of Marok College of Nursing & Medical Sciences, Kaithal Road, Teipur, Patiala and Dr. Arvindervir Singh Gill had provided the names, addresses and documents of 15 students of K.D. College of Nursing Mahilpur whose fee for 2 years ANM course was fixed at Rs. 40,000 per student. Thereafter the former Principal of K.D. College of Nursing Mahilpur had confirmed the admission forms of these students. The concerned dealing hand of PNRC and Charanjit Kaur Cheema, Registrar, did not upload the names and details of these 15 students on PNRC website. Further, roll numbers were issued without depositing their required examination fees. After taking the examination of these students the said Registrar of PNRC issued the same to K.D. Results of a total of 20 students of College of Nursing Mahilpur were prepared in which names and addresses of only 5 students were recorded while the results of 15 students were shown only with roll numbers.
The spokesperson further said that during investigation it was found that accused Charanjit Kaur Cheema in connivance with accused Dr. Arvindervir Singh Gill declared the result by taking affidavits from the said 15 students and getting the documents reconfirmed from the former Principal of K.D. College of Nursing Mahilpur. It was also found that the result was not signed by the dealing hand or the superintendent of the examination branch of PNRC but by a data entry operator working on a daily basis.
He informed that during the investigation it was revealed that with the connivance of the managers of the said private nursing colleges, fake records were prepared in PNRC and those records were also tampered with and the examinations of these 15 students were conducted without the required admission form, required examination form and examination fee.
The spokesperson said that the accused Charanjit Kaur Cheema, resident of Ranjit Avenue (Kila Tek Singh), Batala District Gurdaspur had submitted bills to PNRC about 2 years later regarding the use of government funds released for conducting examinations during her tenure as Registrar. After scrutiny of these bills, receipts of Rs 1,53,900 were found to be fake and bills of expenditure of Rs 40,776 were found to be suspicious. Similarly, the total bill amount of wages related expenses of Rs 750 and vehicle fare of Rs 800 was only Rs 1550, but she claimed this expenditure to be Rs 1940. Apart from this, Charanjit Kaur Cheema took permission from the Chairperson for re-checking of the papers of December 2013 examinations, whereas many papers were found to have been re-checked without signature and without charging any fee. The investigation by the Vigilance Bureau revealed that the re-checking/re-evaluation of the papers of the January 2013 examination was done without the approval of the Chairperson, without the original application and without the required fees. Moreover, the record of this re-checking/re-evaluation does not exist in the PNRC. After a thorough investigation, all the allegations made in the complaint were found to be true.
On the basis of this investigation, the Vigilance Bureau has registered a case against the above accused in Police Station Jalandhar Range of Vigilance Bureau as FIR No. 16 dated 02.08.2024 under Sections 409, 420, 465, 467, 471, 201, 120-B of IPC and Sections 13(1)A and 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act. Both the arrested accused will be produced in the court tomorrow. Teams have been dispatched by the Vigilance Bureau to arrest the remaining accused in this case and further investigation in this matter is going on.
