Shifting of 141 MBBS students of Pathankot college allowed, with riders

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, March 28

The Department of Medical Education and Research (DMER), Punjab, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) and the administration of eight medical colleges in the state today allowed adjustment of 141 MBBS final-year students of Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), Pathankot, subject to certain conditions.

These students will not get stipend till the Punjab government gets Rs 10 crore from the Medical Council of India (MCI).

All 141 medical students have been shifted to three government and five private medical colleges in the state.

While every MBBS students is provided stipend by its college for one-year internship after the completion of academic course, it would not be so in case of these 141 students. These students will not get any stipend from their new college unless the MCI pays Rs 10 crore of endowment funds to the state government.

This endowment of Rs 10 crore was deposited by CMCH with MCI on the directions of the Supreme Court last year after it failed to comply with the MCI norms in providing infrastructure in the medical college.

The Secretary, DMER, has written a letter to the MCI that endowment fund of Rs 10 crore should be transferred to the Punjab government and this amount will be utilised for meeting fee and other expenses for education and training of these shifted students, said Dr Raj Bahadur, vice-chancellor, BFUHS.

As these 2011-batch students have already paid their full fee to CMCH for their four-and-a-half-year academic course, their new colleges will get the fee from the endowment fund after the state government receives the same from the MCI.

Of these 141 students, 26, 26 and 15 are being shifted from CMCH to government medical colleges at Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot, respectively.

Ludhiana-based Christian Medical College and Dayanand Medical College each will take the responsibility of 10 shifted students.

Gian Sagar Medical College, Banur; Sri Guru Ramdas Medical College, Amritsar; and Adesh Institute at Bathinda will adjust 18 students each.

Forty-six of these 141 students have already passed their academic course and have to complete one-year compulsory internship. Other 95 students will appear in their final year Part-II examinations in May 2016.

As the eight medical colleges will not be able to provide the adjusted students with hostel facilities, they will have to stay and attend the new college at their own expenses. All students who are due for internship should follow the migration procedure as laid down by BFUHS.

In a meeting attended by DMER director, vice-chancellor and registrar of BFUHS and principals and heads of eight medical colleges today, it was agreed that infrastructure and staff, including faculty, was available in all medical colleges except Gian Sagar Medical College, Banur.

The faculty of this private medical college is on strike for the last over a month after the management failed to pay them salary.