India

Former MP Health Officer Sunil Singh Booked for Fake MBBS Degree After 16-Year Tenure

By Shruti Tomar, Monika Pandey

Sunil Singh, the former block medical officer (BMO) of Birsa Community Health Centre in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh, has been booked by police for securing government employment with a fraudulent MBBS degree. Singh had held the BMO post for 16 years before being removed in June following a state health department inquiry that found his degree to be fake. He was then posted to a primary health centre in Damoh and has been on leave since July. Balaghat has been in the news for the deaths of 32 children from the Baiga tribal community since 18 May, seven of whom died during Singh’s tenure. The Supreme Court described the deaths as “most unfortunate” in a hearing of a petition filed by a local resident and asked the Centre, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments to respond on compensation for the victims. The state government attributed the deaths to measles, rubella and malaria and announced financial assistance of ₹2 lakh each for the bereaved families. Superintendent of Police Aditya Mishra said the health department conducted an inquiry after a complaint filed about five months ago, found Singh’s degree fraudulent, and issued an order on 9 October directing that an FIR be filed. The FIR was registered on Saturday. The case is under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 340(2) (forged documents) and 336(3) (forgery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.