Give me ₹1 crore, can open hospital anywhere in MP:Man claims to run 17 hospitals offers Ayushman Bharat registration for ₹20 lakh scheme deal

The Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) was launched with the promise of providing cashless treatment up to Rs 5 lakh per family to the poorest citizens of India. In Madhya Pradesh, however, this ambitious welfare scheme appears to have been quietly hijacked by a well-organised medical mafia, operating through fake hospitals, paper doctors, commission agents, and alleged collusion within the system. A ground investigation reveals that several private hospitals exist largely on paper, doctors are hired only for names and registrations, and government funds are being siphoned off through inflated or fake claims—often without genuine treatment of patients. Hospitals without doctors, doctors without hospitals One of the most alarming findings of the investigation is the widespread use of “paper doctors.” These are qualified medical professionals whose names, registration numbers, and signatures are allegedly used without their knowledge—or with their consent for a fee—to register hospitals under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. In the Karond area of Bhopal, pathologist Dr. Nidhi Rathore filed a complaint on November 11, 2025, stating that her name appeared as a listed doctor at Srishti Hospital, even though she had never worked there. The hospital was claiming Ayushman payments using her credentials. Read Part-1 of Bhaskar’s one-month investigation Similarly, MD Pathology Dr. Sushil Kumar Sharma discovered that medical reports from two different facilities—Srishti Hospital and City Path Lab—carried his name but bore different signatures. Dr. Sharma denied signing reports for Srishti Hospital, raising serious concerns of forgery and identity misuse. Under Ayushman rules, hospitals must have permanent, full-time doctors physically present, but in reality, many listed doctors are nowhere to be found. Double billing, fake reports, real money The investigation also uncovered cases of double billing—where hospitals claimed money under two government schemes for the same treatment. On November 10, 2025, Lalita Rajput, a resident of Vidisha, complained that Srishti Hospital had claimed Rs 35,000 under Ayushman Bharat and another Rs 35,000 under the Chief Minister’s Swachchhanudan scheme for a single procedure. Only after the complaint did the hospital return the money. In another shocking instance, a patient named Rashid Khan received two different diagnostic reports on the same day from Bhopal Imaging Centre. One report showed no abnormality, while the second claimed internal brain bleeding. The hospital used the second report to raise an Ayushman claim. Such contradictory reports not only point to financial fraud but also pose grave risks to patient safety. How easy is it to open a ‘hospital’? To understand how these hospitals operate, reporters posed as patients, commission agents, and investors. At Green City Hospital, a man introduced as “Dr. Tahir” was found managing the facility. Online records listed him as a physician, but he admitted to being an Ayurveda graduate who does not treat patients. His role was purely managerial. When asked about Dr. Devendra Dhakad, shown on the Ayushman portal as a permanent doctor, staff casually replied that he could be found at another clinic. According to Ayushman guidelines, this alone should disqualify the hospital. Hospital staff also openly discussed commission structures, offering Rs 1,500– Rs 2,000 per patient to anyone who could bring Ayushman beneficiaries. WhatsApp registrations and Commission deals At Suryansh Hospital on Karond Road, the scheme appeared even more brazen. A middle-aged man claiming to be a doctor explained that Ayushman registrations could be done over WhatsApp. Patients didn’t need to be present; documents were enough. This assembly-line model turns welfare healthcare into a profit-making machine. For every patient admitted under Ayushman, agents were promised Rs 1,000 commission. Hospital management admitted that in many cases, patients were kept for namesake stays, bills were generated, and claims were raised regardless of the actual treatment. The man who claims to run 17 hospitals The investigation’s most explosive revelation came when reporters, posing as financiers, met Rajesh Katiyar, Managing Director of Trupti Hospital. Katiyar claimed to be a partner in 17 private hospitals across Madhya Pradesh. He openly explained how the system works. According to him: Katiyar suggested that authorities are aware of these practices and that “everyone gets a share.” A nexus too big to ignore The findings suggest that this is not a case of isolated corruption but a systemic failure involving: The Ayushman Bharat portal, meant to ensure transparency, appears to have become a tool for legitimising fraud. Physical verification, surprise inspections, and biometric attendance of doctors are either missing or ineffective. Who pays the price? While crores of rupees are allegedly being siphoned off, the real victims are: Worse, fake diagnoses and unnecessary procedures can lead to long-term health consequences for unsuspecting beneficiaries. The need for accountability The Madhya Pradesh Ayushman scam exposes serious gaps in monitoring and enforcement. Without: the scheme risks losing its credibility. Ayushman Bharat was designed as a lifeline for India’s poorest. In Madhya Pradesh, that lifeline appears dangerously close to becoming a cash pipeline for a medical mafia. Unless urgent corrective measures are taken, one of India’s most ambitious healthcare reforms may continue to bleed—quietly, systematically, and at the expense of those it was meant to protect.