UP debars 34 Ayurveda doctors for a year over 'ghost faculty' listings

The Uttar Pradesh Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbi Board has debarred 34 Ayurveda practitioners for one year, until November 2027, after an inquiry found they were treating patients in the state while also being shown as teachers on the faculty rolls of Ayurveda colleges, according to reports published on 1 November 2026. Of the 34, six were listed at colleges outside the state, three in Haryana and one each in Rajasthan, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh, and 28 at Ayurvedic colleges in Uttar Pradesh. A Hindi report links the action to findings by the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), the national regulator, after surprise inspections found many listed faculty members absent from their colleges.

Ayurveda colleges must have a minimum number of qualified teachers to keep their recognition and admit students. When a doctor is shown on a college's faculty list but actually spends the working day running a private practice elsewhere, the college appears to meet the rules on paper while students go without the teaching they pay for. This practice is often called "ghost faculty". According to a Hindi report, the national regulator's checks have found around 400 such teachers across the country.

The debarment matters for two groups. For students in Ayurveda colleges, it is a sign that regulators are checking whether teachers listed on paper are actually present in classrooms and hospitals. Without real teachers, students training as BAMS doctors may graduate without adequate clinical and theoretical training, which ultimately affects the patients they treat. For patients, the action shows that registration boards are now matching their lists of practising doctors against college faculty records.

The action follows a series of steps by the UP board this autumn, including the cancellation of 19 registrations over forged degrees, for which a police complaint was also filed. Together, these moves suggest a wider clean-up of Ayurveda practice and teaching records in India's most populous state. There is some difference in reports over which body led the latest action: one report names the state board, while a Hindi report frames it as an action by the NCISM, with the state board carrying it out for practitioners registered in Uttar Pradesh.

For Ayurveda's standing, such enforcement cuts both ways. It exposes weaknesses in some colleges, but it also shows that the system's regulators are willing to act against practices that undermine trust in Ayurvedic training and care.

UP Ayurveda debarment: where the 34 were listed as faculty State of college | Practitioners Uttar Pradesh | 28 Haryana | 3 Rajasthan | 1 Bihar | 1 Himachal Pradesh | 1

Short-term: The 34 practitioners cannot practise in Uttar Pradesh for a year, and the colleges that listed them may face questions about their faculty strength.

Long-term: Stricter cross-checks of faculty and practice records could push Ayurveda colleges to employ teachers who are actually present, improving training for future Ayurveda doctors.

Who is affected: The debarred practitioners and their patients, Ayurveda colleges in Uttar Pradesh and other states, BAMS students, and regulators in the Ayush sector.

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