NMC derecognizes 40 medical colleges in India, 100 more on list; Andhra also on radar

New Delhi: For the last two months, around 40 medical colleges across the country have lost recognition for allegedly not following standards set by the National Medical Commission (NMC).

According to official sources, 100 more medical colleges in India are likely to face similar action. Medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh are also on the NMC radar. Other states include Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Assam, Punjab, Puducherry, and West Bengal.

The colleges were not found to be complying with the set norms, and several lapses related to CCTV cameras, Aadhaar-linked biometric attendance procedures, and faculty rolls were found during inspections carried out by the Commission, an official source said.

BJP ex-MP Sujana Chowdary's private medical college- MediCiti Institute of Medical Sciences in Ghanpur, Medchal Mandal in Rangareddy district is one among the list. National Medical Commission has revoked the licence of the medical institute, and directed the management to stall the admissions for undergraduate courses in 2023-24 academic year.

Colleges in Andhra Pradesh

As per the data available at National Medical Commission, there are 17 government medical colleges and 19 private medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy sanctioned 17 new medical colleges, including one at Parvatipuram to cater to tribal people in the region. Five medical colleges at Eluru, Vizianagaram, Rajamahendravaram, Nandyal, and Machilipatnam districts will start academic sessions in 2023-24. There will be around 750 MBBS seats in addition to the existing seats in the five new medical colleges.

A three-member team of the Medical Council of India (MCI) has completed the inspection of the building infrastructure of the Government Medical College being built on the Government General Hospital campus in Rajamahendravaram.

Colleges increase by 69% since 2014

According to government data, the number of medical colleges in India has increased significantly since 2014. There is an increase of 69 percent in the medical colleges from 387 before 2014 to 654 as of now, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told the Rajya Sabha in February.

Further, there is an increase of 94 percent in MBBS seats from 51,348 before 2014 to 99,763 as of now and an increase of 107 percent in PG seats from 31,185 before 2014 to 64,559 as of now.

To increase the number of doctors in the country, the government has increased the number of medical colleges and subsequently increased MBBS seats, she had said.

The measures and steps taken by the government to increase the number of medical seats in the country include a centrally-sponsored scheme for the establishment of new medical colleges by upgrading district/referral hospitals, under which 94 new medical colleges are already functional out of 157 approved.

Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system

Reacting to the derecognition of medical colleges, experts from the medical field said the NMC is largely relying on the Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system, for which it considers only the faculty who are on duty during the daytime from 8 am to 2 pm.

"But the working hours of doctors are not fixed. They have to work emergency and night shifts also. So the NMC's rigidity with the working hours has created this issue. Such micro-management of medical colleges is not practical, and the NMC needs to be flexible to such issues," an expert said.

Another expert said, "The NMC is derecognizing medical colleges believing there are deficiencies. At the same time, it has also allowed the registration of students in such colleges, which is a contradiction. Moreover, such an experiment is tarnishing the country's image at the global level because India is the largest supplier of doctors, and with such instances coming to light, the world will lose confidence in Indian doctors."

Inputs from PTI