Many ‘defaulter’ private medical colleges including the new ones, which were given approval by the Supreme Court appointed Oversight Committee (OC) for fresh intake or increase in seats by overlooking the decision of the Medical Council of India (MCI) are likely to come under scrutiny from next month.
The MCI had refused to grant them permission citing shortage of staff and infrastructure.
However, last month the OC gave them approval on the condition that they would fulfil the norms by September end.
However, this has put the fate of many students at stake who have already taken admission in these colleges and much will depend if they have taken enough steps to meet the deficiencies by this month end.
“If they do not meet the criteria, we will have to reconsider our approval given them at the instance of the Oversight Committee,” said a senior official from the Union Health Ministry. The Ministry had granted them permission following the OC direction.
The OC headed by former Chief Justice of India Justice RM lodha was formed to oversee the functioning of the MCI.
This had drawn flak from various sectors which alleged nod were given to close to 100 medical colleges without a fair and objective assessment of its facilities, infrastructure and teaching staff and that such a decision would put the future of over 6,000 students at stake if they pass out from such institutes.
The minutes of the meeting of the MCI held in May to assess the status of the colleges to grant recognition to medical colleges speaks all — there have been glaring lapses in many private medical colleges ranging from absence of operation wards to staff to senior doctors and beds.
For instance, a college in Trivandrum which was given green signal by the OC for increase in seat intake from 50 to 150 had bed occupancy at 54 per cent while no emergency operation was performed.
In another college in Pune the MCI inspection team found that in Orthopaedics ward, many patients were admitted who did not merit admission. There was no speech therapy room while machines and staff were not available. In yet
Further, in a medical college in Panipat, deficiency of faculty was 84.61 per cent, shortage of residents doctors was 89.13 while there was no medical superintendent in the affiliated hospital. The condition was more or less similar in almost all the medical colleges, as per the minutes of the meeting of the MCI which had refused to give them approval.