Allied health sciences, paramedical courses plagued by fake ‘councils’ running across states

The website of the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) shows that Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana are among 13 states and union territories that are yet to constitute State Allied and Healthcare Councils, mandated by the NCAHP Act 2021. However on the ground, there’s a rash of ‘councils’ providing ‘affiliation’ to institutes to run diploma and certificate courses for amounts ranging from Rs 10,000 to up to Rs 5 lakh.

An investigation by Careers360 has revealed that these private bodies – they call themselves ‘councils’ suggesting regulatory authority – operate even beyond their state borders.

As long as the fees for affiliation is paid, courses are being run even with “non-attending” options. Under the guise of an owner seeking affiliation and approval for her institute, this reporter visited and/or spoke to ‘officials’ at several such ‘councils’ in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Many of them claim legal sanction under various acts and bodies, often with nothing to do with healthcare – IT Act, ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE), NITI Aayog.

What Careers360 found on each of them is given below.

Experts say that the lack of regulation of this sector has fuelled the growth of such councils and that it is mostly rural institutes that are affiliated to them.

The commission’s first chairperson Dr. Yagna Unmesh Shukla, who took charge in January 2024, told Careers360 that the national commission at the centre and the state councils are the only statutory bodies in this field.

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NCAHP Act on state councils

The NCAHP is the top regulator for the allied health sciences sector but it was set up only in 2021. Its regulations are still being framed and many state councils are yet to come up.

Like regulatory structures of other professions – such as medicine or law – allied healthcare is meant to have national and state-level bodies.

A state council requires representation of a government officer of the state medical and health department, presidents of autonomous boards constituted by the state and two representing charitable institutions, along with others.

Following its constitution, the state council will constitute the following autonomous boards:

• Undergraduate Allied and Healthcare Education Board

• Postgraduate Allied and Healthcare Education Board

• Allied and Healthcare Professions Assessment and Rating Board

• Allied and Healthcare Professions Ethics and Registration Board.

The boards and the council have immense powers over all institutions and every aspect of their functioning. The first two boards will set education standards at all levels, develop curriculum, “review institutional standards against norms”, approve courses, conduct faculty development programmes and more, says the law.

The council is responsible for ensuring “minimum standards of education, courses, curricula, physical and instructional facilities, staff pattern, staff qualifications, quality instructions, assessment, examination, training, research, [and] continuing professional education”. The law also mandates that the council ensures a “uniform entry examination with common counselling for admission” and a “uniform exit or licensing examination” for graduates; it will also register the graduates.

In April, the NCAHP drafted model curricula for 10 allied health science courses.

Satendra Singh, professor at University College of Medical Sciences, said, “Generally, for the institutes to be providing the course, they have to be affiliated with a university. They are also recognised by the respective associations. Since this sector has been unregulated for a long time, these so-called councils have come up.”

Singh gave an example, the Amar Jyoti Institute of Physiotherapy is affiliated to Delhi University and recognised by the Delhi Council for Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy and Indian Association of Physiotherapists.

Although the NCAHP website does not mention a state council for Uttar Pradesh, the state has a government body called “Uttar Pradesh State Medical Faculty” which lists institutes approved by it. It is also responsible for granting approvals to run paramedical and nursing courses. Recently, the UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath released the ranking for the institutes affiliated to the faculty.

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Fake regulators

With regulation at a fairly early stage – the last came less than five years ago – numerous private groups claiming to be ‘councils’ have cropped up.

An institute run in one state might claim approval by a body in another state or one with a name suggesting pan-India jurisdiction. Here’s what Careers360 found on some of them.

All India Paramedical, Nursing and Yoga Council

Take CRIBS Institute of Paramedical Science, located at Jasola in Delhi, for example. It has been providing degrees from “Uttar Pradesh Paramedical Council” run under the aegis of the “All India Paramedical, Nursing and Yoga Council”. The institute runs from the third floor of a hospital and provides affiliation to other institutes in the country as well.

When this reporter visited, Junaid Alam, the centre head told her, “If affiliation is wanted there are three options. One is with Mewar University, which then involves a one-time payment to the university and then fees sharing on the number of students. Then the other is with the All India Paramedical Council in Lucknow, where a one-time payment of Rs 5 lakh has to be made. We would facilitate the MOU for the affiliation. Then the other is with CRIBS itself where the fees of each student registered will have to be shared.”

The institute charges Rs 35,000 for a six-month course and Rs 45,000 for one-year one. Now, it has been advertising three-year Bachelor of Vocation courses as well.

The institute had three classrooms with a few students each and separate rooms for admission and guidance counselling. Alam claimed it has been functioning for 24 years and is registered with the ministry of micro small and medium enterprises (MSME). It also runs nursing courses, claiming tie ups with the state nursing councils of Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana. However none of the state nursing councils has this institute listed.

Similarly, Shri Balaji Paramedical College in Ghaziabad, UP, claims on its website that it is registered with the State Paramedical Council, Lucknow, and offers diploma and degree-level courses.

The website also has lots to say about the ‘State Paramedical Council’ – that it’s a “non-university institution” and that all programmes are “autonomous and do not fall under the purview of UGC/AICTE/MCI or any other medical board”.

It goes on to state that the council was “established under the IT/Act 1882 and whose registration number 1035 is recognised by the Government of India”. India has two laws that are called “IT Act”, neither related to healthcare – Income Tax Act 1961 and the Information Technology Act 2000.

The ‘state paramedical council’ mentioned above claims to conduct examinations, issue diplomas and certificates, and register “deserving candidates”. It also frames norms and standards related to the field.

Along with Shri Balaji Paramedical College, the council lists 18 other institutes located in places like Shamli, Bhagpat, Jaunpur and others. Careers360 was unable to find traces of several of them online. However, Manas Paramedical and Professional College in Morna, Muzzaffarnagar, UP, stated it was affiliated to UP State Paramedical Council.

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Delhi State Government Paramedical Council

Located in Alipur village in north Delhi, the ‘Delhi State Government Paramedical Council’ said they have been operating for the last 15 years.

Certificates issued by institutes with affiliation under such councils

This reporter visited the ‘council’ in the narrow lanes of the village, very close to Delhi University’s Swami Shraddhanand College, and found its headquarters located above an HDFC Bank branch. There was no board outside to announce its presence but the office interiors are decorated with mementos and photos touting the achievements of the council and its head, Dr. Kapil Dev Aryaa, his last name, ‘Aryaa’, tattooed on his hands.

“We provide affiliation to institutes, but May 15 was the last date to apply, since admission will begin,” said Aryaa. He claims to have a Phd in health education; according to a certificate frame on the wall, it’s from “Indian State Government Doctorate University, Trust” which does not exist.

But he has rules for granting affiliation. “To start, three classrooms will be required, a principal room, registrar room, toilets, science lab and computer lab. Once registration documents [and] trade licenses are submitted, there will be an inspection, for which the institute wanting to run the course has to pay[. This is] for the visit of the members of the council,” he said.

It offers two affiliation options. In the first, the institute will conduct the exam and the degree will bear the institute's name. In this case, the affiliation fee is Rs 1,55,000 for three years. In the other option, the degree will be awarded by the council with the institute's name as a “study centre”; this costs Rs 1,00,000 for five years. An institute is initially allotted 25 seats.

“We are a government organisation and so, we don’t need to tie up. We have a lot of institutes in the northeast, whose students are registered with us,” said Aryaa. The council – definitely not a government organisation – also has its own study centre at Janakpuri, south-west Delhi, and at Vikas Nagar in west Delhi.

It has under 20 institutions affiliated to it and lists over 100 courses, including ones on “ayurvedic beauty therapy”, “cultivation of medicinal plants”, and “CSSD technician” (central sterile supply department). It even has a diploma in Ayush nursing and pharmacy and a host of certificate courses.

“We run three different kinds of programmes. One is the regular one where classes take place Monday to Friday, for two hours. It also includes an internship. The other is a correspondence course where one full-day class is held in a week along with internships. Then, there is a non-attending programme where students will have to appear for an examination only,” said Aryaa.

The course fee varies. A two-year diploma in medical laboratory technology costs Rs 1,20,000 for the regular mode, Rs 80,000 for correspondence and Rs 60,000 for non attending. The website claims it is recognised by the MSDE and was set up by “Unique Education Welfare Center” as a society in 2007. The centre is not a government body.

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National Council of Paramedical Delhi

The National Council of Paramedical Delhi claims approval by the ministry of human resource development (MHRD is now called ministry of education) and is headquartered in Chandan Nagar, Kanpur.

It lists at least 60 different courses, ranging from alternative medicine and sciences, dialysis therapy, ayurvedic medical science, and hospital assistant.

In response to inquiries about the affiliation process, a representative said over the phone, “First a document is required for the registration. Then you could be eligible to become a centre and the students will also be eligible to get scholarships. As a centre you will be allowed five courses, after that you will have to pay Rs 5,000 each for additional courses. The affiliation fees will be Rs 10,500.”

The website did not have details of the institutes but the official claimed to have over 200 institutes nationwide.

Paramedical and Allied Health Council

Yet another ‘council’ in Delhi, Paramedical and Allied Health Council’s director Dr.Raman Sharma claimed they were registered with MSME, Skill India and the government of NCT of Delhi. Their office is in Madanpur Khadar, Delhi.

When asked about affiliation, they sent a document and asked for the franchise fees, Rs 10,000, to be transferred to the account of PT RC Sharma Paramedical College, based in Saharanpur UP.

The website lists eight institutes in Chattisgarh and one in Saharanpur in UP, most of them located in rural areas. Each claims to be recognised by Niti Aayog and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).

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Institutes claiming affiliation to this council include Divine Paramedical and Allied Health Institute at Pathalgaon, district Jashpur, Chhattisgarh, and Ashutosh Institute of Paramedical and Health Sciences in Bilaspur.

It has also listed Bharatiyar University in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and Himalayan University at Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, which does not even offer allied science courses.

All India Council of Paramedical Faculty, Hisar

The All India Council of Paramedical Faculty, Hisar, Haryana, says it is a private council but claims to be “registered” with the Government of India. Once again, it claims legal validity under the IT Act.

The website states, “In view of public interest for the root-level of need for paramedics the All India Council of Paramedical Faculty was established. The faculty was established in 1995 under IT Act duly registered with the Government of India.”

Pradeep Kumar, stating he’s an employee, said over the phone, “We have 90 different types of courses. It is up to you if you want degrees from a university in Hisar, Haryana or, since we are a council ourselves, we also provide degrees.”

On the affiliation process he said, “The affiliation fee is a one-time fee of Rs 50,000,” He was quick to even offer a 70% discount. The affiliation process just required the registration certificate of the institute, educational qualification documents of the owner along with their PAN and Aadhaar cards.

He added, “There will be no inspection of the institute to start the course. The degrees will be provided by us and it will be sent by courier.”

The ‘Faculty’ lists over 320 ‘affiliated’ institutes, a large number of them in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with a few in Delhi as well. They are called “study centres”. Many on the list are other colleges not providing allied science courses.

However, some, like Electra King Excellence Education in Kaushambi, UP, stated that they are affiliated to All India Council for Paramedical Health Faculty, where the fees for a two-year diploma course on operation theatre technology is Rs 20,000.

‘Not legal’: NCAHP chief

Shukla said, “The National Commission for Allied Health Professional is a statutory body like the National Medical Commission (NMC). There are 57 specialisations under our purview. We have released the curriculum for 10 specialisations and we are actively working to do the same for other specialisations. If any of the institutes or councils are running courses other than prescribed by NCAHP then it is not legal.”

She adds that the commission is the only statutory body in the country.

“We are also in the process of forming regulations for the registration of the institutions which have been in existence before 2021. It is a huge sector and we are working to ensure that the professionals and institutes can register with the right statutory body. For a long time there was no standardisation, no uniformity and curriculum for these specialisations due to which several of these so called councils have come up. These are not legit,” she said.

Further explaining about the role of the state councils, Shukla added, “Like the commission is a statutory body at the centre, every state will have a council who will work towards standardising, bringing in uniformity and implementing the curriculum. Institutions have to ensure that they are registered with the right statutory bodies.”