Govt bans 32 private medical colleges from admitting students for two years

• The Union health ministry has banned 32 private medical colleges from admitting students for two years, overruling a Supreme Court panel that had cleared their alleged substandard facilities.
• The ministry also forfeited the colleges’ security deposit of Rs 2 crore each. It has, however, allowed 4,000 undergraduate students to continue studying at these institutes.
• “We based our decision on the inspection report which highlighted gross deficiency of facilities. But the decision will not impact students already studying,” Arun Singhal, joint secretary, health and family welfare, told Hindustan Times.
• Singhal did not explain why the government allowed the colleges that it found “unfit” to continue.

In May 2016, the Supreme Court appointed a three-member Oversight Committee (OC), headed by former chief justice ML Lodha, to check alleged corruption in the Medical Council of India, which regulates such studies, and suggest ways to improve standards.

By the time the court panel was constituted, the MCI had completed inspecting 109 new colleges that had applied to admit medical students in 2016. The MCI allowed only 17 colleges.

But the panel reviewed the MCI’s decision and permitted 34 more colleges to take in students. This set the panel on a collision course with the MCI.

The panel allowed these colleges based on an “undertaking” from them that they will fulfill all criteria. It said if they fail a fresh inspection the colleges will be banned for two years and they will forfeit their deposits.

Following this, a joint four-member inspection team of the Oversight Committee and MCI visited these colleges between November and December and found them “grossly deficient in basic facilities”.

The MCI recommended banning 32 colleges. However, just a day before the court panel’s mandate was to run out on May 15, it reversed the MCI recommendations, permitting 26 colleges to admit students and suggesting fresh inspection of the remaining six.

In at least two instances, the committee overruled staff deficiencies by accepting the colleges’ plea that the staff had gone to exchange old banknotes after demonetisation.

In defence of its decision, the panel cited “numerous instances of violation” of inspection guidelines by the joint team.

The MCI dismissed the allegation.

“It will be unfair to say that MCI did not adhere to the OC guidelines. The MCI has engaged the assessors from the OC panel and OC recommended institution in every team,” said Jayshree Mehta, president of the MCI.

The court panel members didn’t respond to HT’s email about the ministry’s decision.

“We looked at the inspection report of the MCI and the OC’s comment on that and made a decision,” Singhal said.

Most of the private colleges called the ban discriminatory and illegal.

“Last year, the OC allowed 34 colleges to admit students and put in place a proper mechanism to inspect the facilities, but the MCI has grossly violated that process. It failed 32 colleges deliberately. It is witch-hunting,” a promoter of a private college said.

Students said they felt victimised.

“If the government thinks that these colleges don’t have facilities then we should be shifted to approved colleges immediately,” a student from a private college said.

They fear the ban will discourage colleges from improving facilities, impacting their studies.

1) Major S.D. Singh Medical College & Hospital, Fatehgarh, UP 

2) Venkateshwar Institute of Medical Sciences, Amroha, UP 

3) Varunarjun Medical College, Shahjahanpur, UP 

4) Madha Medical College & Hospital, Thandalam, Tamil Nadu 

5) Melmaruvathur Adhiprasakthi Institute of Medical Sciences, Melmaruvathur, Tamil Nadu 

6) Annaii Medical College, Kancheepuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 

7) Chintpuri Medical College & Hospital, Pathankot, Punjab 

8) Malla Reddy Medical College for Women, Telangana 

9) Al Azhar Medical College, Kumaramangalam, Kerala 

10) DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Science, Meppadi, Kerala 

11) RKDF Medical College, Hospital & Research Centre, Bhopal, MP 

12) Hi-Tech Medical College & Hospital, Sundargarh, Odisha 

13) Jawahar Medical Foundation's ACPM Medical College, Dhule, Maharashtra 

14) Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, New Delhi 

15) RVM Institute of Medical Sciences, Telangana 

16) Sakshi Medical College & Research Centre, Guna, MP 

17) Sukhsagar Medical College & Hospital, Jabalpur, MP 

18) American Institute of Medical Sciences, Udaipur, Rajasthan 

19) Raipur Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur, Chhattisgarh 

20) World College of Medical Sciences & Research, Jhajjar, Haryana 

21) Modern Institute of Medical Sciences, Indore, MP 

22) Krishna Mohan Medical College, Mathura, UP 

23) Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Chittoor, AP 

24) Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalore, Karnataka 

25) Akash Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Devanalli, Karnataka 

26) Nimra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ibrahimpatnam, AP 

27) Gayatri Vidya Parishad Institution of Health Care and Medical Technology, Visakhapatnam, AP

28) GCRG Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, UP 

29) Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhilai, Chhatisgarh 

30) Glocal Medical College Super Specialty Hospital & Research Centre, Saharanpur, UP 

31) Kerala Medical College, Palakkad, Kerala 

32) Saraswati Medical College, Unnao, UP 

33) Ananta Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Rajasamand, Rajasthan 

34) Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, UP