A government doctor accused of using forged medical qualification documents remained in service for nearly 17 years in Madhya Pradesh’s Baiga-dominated Birsa block, where at least 32 child deaths have been officially recorded, according to an FIR and a state-level inquiry cited by the Times of India.
The FIR was registered at Birsa police station against Sunil Kumar Singh after the state health department directed officials to initiate action. The case was filed on a written complaint from the office of Balaghat’s chief medical and health officer, or CMHO, and invokes Sections 318(4), 340(2) and 336(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to cheating, use of forged documents and forgery.
According to the complaint, inquiry findings and document scrutiny indicated that Singh obtained government employment using forged medical qualification papers purportedly issued in the name of Dr Sunil Kumar, a medical officer posted in Dewas district. The complaint sought action for presenting fake documents to secure government employment, along with other applicable offences.
A state public health and medical education department order issued on October 9 directed action after the inquiry committee’s findings were examined. CMHO Dr Shatrughan Singh Dahiya authorised medical officer Nimish Gautam to file the complaint. Gautam was on medical leave, however, and Dahiya verbally instructed Dr Naresh Maran, the current in-charge block medical officer at Birsa community health centre, to submit it instead.
Dahiya told the Times of India that Singh had been under scrutiny at the state administrative headquarters for several years and had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation when questioned about his qualifications. Investigators also recorded the statement of the Dewas-based doctor whose certificates Singh allegedly forged.
Singh joined government service in 2009 and remained posted in the same tribal block, Dahiya said. He was promoted to block medical officer in charge of Birsa in 2023. After complaints about his MBBS degree emerged, he was shifted to a primary health centre in Damoh, also within the block, where he continued to serve.
Singh went on medical leave in June as the inquiry intensified and has remained absent since then. Dahiya said his whereabouts were unknown. The FIR concerns the alleged forgery and recruitment irregularities; the report said no hard evidence has emerged linking Singh to the deaths of Baiga children.
The case has emerged amid continuing concern over healthcare access and child health in the remote Balaghat area. At least 32 child deaths have been officially logged, while the Congress has claimed that the toll is higher. The deaths prompted visits by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, among others, and brought national attention to the Baihar and Birsa blocks.
Health department teams are continuing outreach across 57 Baiga villages in the two blocks. In its latest update on October 9, the department said 49,988 people had been screened and 8,296 patients identified. Of those patients, 7,551 were treated at home, 745 were admitted to hospitals, 737 were discharged and eight remained under treatment. The department also reported that 40,848 children had received vaccines.
The immediate legal process now rests with the police investigation and the health department’s action on the inquiry findings. The supplied report does not establish whether Singh’s alleged qualification fraud affected any specific clinical decision or patient outcome.
