Fake Disability and Medical Certificate Racket Busted at Kolhapur Hospital

Kolhapur: A probe at Kolhapur’s Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Government Medical College has blown the lid off a racket facilitating fake disability and medical fitness certificates — despite the state government’s push for digitisation to eliminate corruption and manipulation in the system.

Preliminary findings suggest that the revelations are only “the tip of the iceberg”. Officials fear that if the entire network is exposed, it could shake the state’s healthcare administration.

The inquiry has flagged certificates issued for medical conditions that did not exist. In one case, a patient who never underwent heart surgery received a certificate claiming the opposite. In another instance, a person with no eyesight issues was certified as visually impaired.

Questions have now been raised over the role of senior medical officers, including a former district civil surgeon, a cardiac surgeon and an ophthalmologist, who allegedly facilitated such documents.

To plug corruption in the issuance of disability and medical fitness certificates — essential for government employment reservations and exemptions — the state had made the system fully digital.

However, officials allegedly found loopholes to continue the racket, in collusion with middlemen who operate in almost every district hospital, securing “tailor-made” certificates in exchange for hefty sums.

In Kolhapur, a proactive medical superintendent introduced a dual OTP verification process to increase transparency. Yet, members of the racket reportedly bypassed the additional safeguards, continuing to issue fraudulent certificates — until the recent probe exposed the malpractice.

Sanjay Pawar, deputy leader of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, pursued the matter and lodged a complaint with the medical college administration after receiving specific inputs and documents.

A committee was constituted, which scrutinised years of records and uncovered multiple questionable certificates — including 11 cases involving suspicious blindness or low-vision approvals.

Sources say a chain of coordinated actors was involved, and more officials could face action as the inquiry progresses.

Pawar has demanded a deeper probe by Divyang Welfare Secretary Tukaram Munde, known for his strict administrative actions.

“The documents presented are only a sample,” sources close to him said. “If roots of this network are traced across districts, the scale of the fake certificate trade — even after digitisation — will become evident.”

With hundreds of cases now under scrutiny, the probe is expected to widen significantly in the coming weeks.