Govt declares Para Medical Council illegal

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, August 27

The Department of Medical Education and Research (DMER), Punjab, has declared the Para Medical Council (PMC) and its affiliated 57 institutes void and invalid. Hundreds of students studying in these institutes are thus facing an uncertain future.

In a public notice, Manjeet Kaur Mohi, director, DMER, declared that the Mohali based-PMC was not recognised by the state government. The certificates issued by the PMC are thus not valid for government jobs, the notice read.

Functional since 2002, the PMC is working under its own constitution and byelaws. It reportedly has 57 institutes in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, J&K, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Mizoram, offering 37 diploma courses in allopath medicines, homeopathy, veterinary, radiography and ayurveda.

On why it took so long for the authorities to act against the PMC, Dr Manjeet Kaur said she took the decision after the working of the council was brought to her notice.

Claiming it to be an ISO-certified council, RK Kapoor, legal adviser of the PMC, said the council was established to promote paramedical, para-veterinary, para-dental and vocational education in India. “Many state governments have already recognised the diploma certificates awarded by the PMC. We will challenged the decision of the Punjab government in the court,” he said.

Sources in the DMER revealed that hundreds of students were enrolled in 57 institutes affiliated with the PMC. Many of these students are already embroiled in a legal fight with the Haryana government after the latter refused to acknowledge their degrees for various government jobs.

Earlier in August 2011, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had given its nod to Punjab government to move the Registrar of Societies to examine the issue of cancelling the name under which the council operates. The directions came after the council’s action of filing a petition against the move to get an FIR registered against it backfired. The council had moved the court, claiming it was imparting training to students in veterinary sciences.

The court had held that the PMC has no right to affiliate institutions... It shall have no right to claim that a foreign university has given such authority. The activities of the petitioners, including the advertisements, have serious portents of public mischief with the gullible youth being enticed on promises that jobs are available for taking from the government departments.”