ESIC medical college fails to get MCI nod
Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service
Faridabad, June 22
The first medical college set up by the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) here will not be able to start its maiden MBBS course this year.
The college has come up at a cost of Rs 758 crore and will have to wait till the next academic year to admit students.
College Dean Asim Das said that both the Union Health Ministry and the Medical Council of India (MCI) have loaded this decision on their websites. “No one, including the state government, has given any undertaking to the Union Ministry or the MCI for removal of the deficiencies,’’ he remarked.
Though the exact nature of the lacunae are still to be officially announced it is reported that recruitment of the staff, including teaching faculty and subject experts, was one of the major factors behind this decision.
The MCI and the Health department had earlier rejected the application for starting the maiden academic session last year on the same grounds, claimed sources in the department.
The medical college has 100 seats. While 15 per cent of the seats were to be filled through admission test held at the all India level, the remaining seats were to be allotted to state and the ESI card holder wards based on the PMT.
Though the foundation stone of college was laid in February 27, 2009 by the then Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandez, but it kept on missing deadlines due to various hurdles. The delay resulted in the budget overshooting to Rs 758 crore from the initial Rs 548 crore, sources claimed.
Bechu Giri, a member of the ESI Regional Committee, has demanded a probe into the matter. Seeking action against the officials responsible, he said this has not only put on stake the career of medical students but had delayed state of the art health facilities to ESI beneficiaries.
