40 Bihar Nursing Colleges Lost Recognition. Why Bengaluru Deserves a Serious Look

On 31 August 2026, the Indian Nursing Council (INC) took back its recognition from 40 nursing colleges in Bihar. Students in 45 nursing courses were hit.¹ Three well-known institutes in Nalanda district alone were on the list. At one of them, the B.Sc Nursing course lost recognition.²

When the inspection reports came out, they were shocking. Some private colleges were running from just two rooms. Some teachers did not even have the degrees needed to teach nursing.¹

If you are planning to study nursing, this is not just news. It is a warning. Below, we explain what it means for your degree, and why B.Sc Nursing in Bangalore (Bengaluru) is worth a serious look for Bihar students.

What happens if your college loses recognition?

The president of the Bihar Nursing Registration Council explained it clearly. If your college is not recognised:¹

• You cannot get a job in central government hospitals, AIIMS or the Railways.
• You cannot register with the nursing council of another state.
• Studying or working abroad becomes very difficult.

In simple words: you spend four years and lakhs of rupees, and you get a certificate that very few employers will accept.

This did not happen overnight

The warning signs were there for years.

• In 2021, the Patna High Court told the state government to inspect every government and private nursing college in Bihar.³
• Later, in a court case, the state itself admitted that some colleges were running without meeting basic rules. Out of 152 nursing institutions in Bihar, inspection reports had come in for only 78.⁴
• In September 2026, the health minister ordered physical inspections of nursing colleges across the state.⁵

What students actually went through

Behind every number is a student who lost time, money and peace of mind.

• Buxar: A government nursing institute and hostel built for Rs 13 crore partly stopped working because of water and toilet problems. All 142 GNM girls had to leave the hostel and go home.⁶
• Madhubani (Rampatti): One tutor was teaching 180 students.⁷
• Patna: Students of the Bihar University of Health Sciences marched on the road. They said courses that should finish in three to four years were running years late, and exams for the next semester were announced before results of the last one came out. Many said they paid Rs 1,000 per subject on top of the Rs 2,850 exam fee.⁸
• Nalanda: Hundreds of nursing and physiotherapy students protested at a college. They alleged wrong results, no practical training, illegal fees, and a demand of Rs 80,000 per student to “manage” exams. Some who paid, they said, still got 15 out of 50 in practicals.⁹

The trouble does not end after college. Bihar is now checking 5,175 nurses hired during Covid for fake documents.¹⁰ In one district, 12 GNM staff took salary for four years on fake appointment letters.¹¹

Uttar Pradesh is not much better

• A body calling itself the “Board of Medical Health Science and Research” gave affiliation to nursing and paramedical colleges without any legal right to do so. Students found out only when they went to register. Their degrees were invalid.¹²
• In Mathura, a college ran for four years without INC recognition. Students finally took their protest to the District Magistrate’s office.¹³
• In Bareilly, a college kept admitting students without INC approval until students protested.¹⁴

UP has 23 government and 357 private B.Sc Nursing colleges with 13,590 seats, and there is a shortage of teachers everywhere. That is why the state now asks colleges to give faculty details on affidavit before granting recognition for the year.¹⁵ UP is also opening 15 new government nursing colleges with a budget of Rs 105 crore.¹⁶

Why training quality matters so much

A nurse learns by doing: in wards, in ICUs, with real patients. In May 2026, the Supreme Court called an INC rule “nothing short of fraud”. The rule allowed a nursing college to be up to 30 km away from a hospital with an ICU, even though students are supposed to train in the ICU every day.¹⁷

Now look at how many nurses each state has, as per data shared in Parliament:¹⁸

State	Registered nurses and midwives per 1,000 people
Kerala	10.47
Karnataka	7.69 (highest total in India: 5,30,321)
India average	2.60 (WHO target: 3)
Uttar Pradesh	about 0.96
Bihar	0.15 (lowest in India)

Bihar has just 19,475 registered nurses for about 13.22 crore people.

Why should this worry you as a student? Fewer nurses usually goes hand in hand with fewer big hospitals, fewer beds and fewer ICUs. That means fewer places where you can get proper hands-on training.

Why Bengaluru is worth a serious look

1. A big system, with rules

Karnataka had 611 nursing colleges with about 35,000 seats in 2025.¹⁹ RGUHS, the state health sciences university, produces 30,000 to 35,000 nursing graduates every year.²⁰ Under state rules, a new nursing college must have its own parent hospital with at least 200 beds in cities and 100 beds in rural areas.²⁰ At a college that follows this rule, you train in your college’s own hospital, not after a long bus ride to another district.

2. Fees fixed by the government

In 2024, Karnataka fixed B.Sc Nursing fees for the first time:²¹

• Government quota seat: Rs 10,000 a year
• Management seat, Karnataka student: Rs 1 lakh a year
• Management seat, student from outside Karnataka (Bihar, Jharkhand, UP and others): Rs 1.4 lakh a year

In 2025, the government said no to a fee hike and warned that colleges charging more could be penalised and lose affiliation.¹⁹ So you have an official number to show any college that asks for more.

One thing to remember: this is the tuition fee. Hostel, food, uniform and books are extra. Always ask for the full yearly cost in writing.

3. Bad colleges actually get punished

RGUHS once barred 75 out of 615 nursing colleges from admitting any student for a year because of shortcomings. Most of them were in the Bengaluru region.²² The state has also ordered weak paramedical colleges to close or lose affiliation.^23,24 When a state shuts down bad colleges, students in the good ones are safer.

4. Jobs

Bengaluru keeps adding hospitals, including new high-end ones that opened in 2025.²⁵ Hospitals hire all year round. Just one heart hospital’s notice in September 2025 had 15 GNM staff nurse posts at Rs 22,000 a month.²⁶ Across India, a new GNM staff nurse earns roughly Rs 15,000 to Rs 26,000 a month, and pay rises quickly with experience and specialisation.²⁷ Nearly half of India’s registered hospital nurses work in just four southern states.¹⁸

Jobs are coming up at home too. Bihar advertised 11,389 staff nurse posts in 2025.²⁸ But those jobs go to people whose college and registration are valid. That is the whole point.

The honest truth: not every Karnataka college is good

We will not tell you that every college in Bengaluru is perfect.

• RGUHS’s own records show many colleges with problems like no hospital of their own, too few teachers and missing approvals.²⁹
• The INC’s latest withdrawal list also includes many Karnataka colleges, mostly because of a long-running dispute between the state and the INC over how seats are approved.³⁰
• In 2017, the same dispute left about two lakh students in trouble when INC recognition was pulled in one go.³¹

So don’t choose a city. Choose a college, after checking it. This rule applies in Patna, in Lucknow and in Bengaluru. Our guide to Bihar nursing colleges lists exactly what to check before you pay.

How Admisonian can help

Our job is simple: we help you check before you pay.

Since 2016, Admisonian Educare has guided students from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and beyond into nursing and paramedical courses. Our counselling is free for students and families. Our partner colleges pay us when a student joins, and we will always tell you which colleges are our partners.

Here is what we do for you:

• Check the college’s name on the live INC list
• Explain how your state nursing council registration will work
• Compare what the college is asking for against the official fee order
• Shortlist colleges whose hospital training you can actually check

Thinking about GNM, B.Sc Nursing or a paramedical course? Talk to us before you pay a deposit anywhere, in any state. One phone call can save you a whole year.

Call: +91 98212 03565 · WhatsApp: +91 93153 76695

Offices: Delhi | Patna. On-ground team: Bengaluru