On 17th of April, the Supreme Court issued notices to 107 nursing colleges in Rajasthan, as well as to the Indian Nursing Council (INC), while hearing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Rajasthan state government. The petition challenges rulings by both a single bench and a division bench of the Rajasthan High Court that had invalidated crucial aspects of the state’s nursing education policy.
According to the Supreme Court’s order made public on 18th of April, a bench consisting of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Joymalya Bagchi reviewed the case and subsequently issued the notices.
Representing the Rajasthan government, Additional Advocate General Shiv Mangal Sharma highlighted the rapid and unregulated growth of nursing colleges across the state, many of which, he claimed, are being run from small residential spaces lacking proper infrastructure and standards.
“To safeguard public interest and ensure quality in nursing education, the state introduced a policy on June 7, 2022, requiring any nursing college to be attached to a functioning 100-bedded hospital,” Sharma told the court. He stressed that this benchmark was necessary to ensure that institutions met a minimum quality threshold.
However, this policy was struck down by a single bench of the High Court on November 4, 2022. When the state appealed the decision, a division bench also dismissed the appeal on March 1, 2024. As a result, the state approached the Supreme Court on April 12, 2024.
During the hearing, the state government argued that the High Court failed to distinguish between the minimum standards set by the INC and the additional regulatory measures a state can impose to address specific local challenges. Sharma warned that allowing substandard nursing colleges to operate would compromise the quality of healthcare by producing poorly trained professionals.
The Supreme Court, acknowledging these concerns, has now sought responses from all 107 nursing institutions and the INC.