NMC clampdown

Clamping down on medical colleges that have not been meeting the statutory criteria to run MBBS courses, the NMC has derecognised 40 colleges and 100 others face a similar fate across the country, affecting new batches of students. In this region, Chintpurni Medical College in Punjab’s Pathankot district and Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College in Haryana’s Faridabad district are among the institutes affected till now; more could follow. Undoubtedly, there can be no compromise on the standard set for these medical colleges as it has a bearing on the quality of doctors graduating out of their precincts. The Covid pandemic proved that our medical fraternity is second to none globally as India tackled the contagion and produced vaccines. However, poorly-rated medical colleges are a blot on this image.

At the heart of the problem is the lack of funds needed to meet the NMC norms. The meagre budget allocation is impeding the expansion of medical education. The Haryana Assembly was told in February that there was 51.7 per cent staff shortage in the five government medical colleges of the state, with Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College recording 78.8 per cent vacant posts. Similarly, Chintpurni College has been found to be ailing from glaring deficiencies in terms of faculty, patient load and infrastructure.

Equally dire is the need for more medical professionals to provide basic and specialist healthcare to our burgeoning population. Thus, utmost efforts must be made to fill the gaps detected in all debarred colleges and get them running soon. On a positive note, the government’s decision to upgrade district/referral hospitals to medical colleges under a Centrally sponsored scheme is commendable. Of the 157 such medical colleges approved, 94 are already functional.