Over 150 Medical colleges across India are likely to lose NMC recognition for non-compliance, inadequate staff: Report

Three medical colleges in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry will lose the right to admit students for violation of certain norms. The three Tamil Nadu colleges are Government Stanley Medical College Hospital in Chennai, K A P Viswanathan Government Medical College in Trichy and Government Dharmapuri Medical College and Hospital. The Puducherry institute is the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (IGMC & RI).

According to the media reports, Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) director, Shambhu Sharan Kumar wrote a letter to the college deans that the board has decided to withdraw recognition after the response to deficiencies in the biometric attendance and cameras were found 'not satisfactory'.

However, the colleges can appeal before the National Medical Commission against the decision of the UGMEB to penalise them for deficiencies in Aadhaar-based biometric attendance and footage of cameras installed in these colleges.

NDTV report estimates 150 medical colleges in the country are likely to lose recognition of the National Medical Commission (NMC)-- the regulatory body for country's medical education and medical professionals -- for inadequate faculty and non-compliance of rules, sources have said. Already, 40 medical colleges across the country have lost recognition and must show to the NMC that they are following set standards.

The list of medical colleges that may lose their status are from Gujarat, Assam, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura and West Bengal.

The report said that the colleges were not following the criteria, including proper camera installation and their functioning. Biometric facility was not working properly. Many posts in the faculties were also found vacant during the inspection.

The deficiencies were revealed during an inspection carried out by the Undergraduate Medical Education Board of the Commission for over a month, in which they looked into CCTV cameras, lapses in Aadhar linked biometric attendance procedures and the faculty rolls.

In December, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya had warned of action against medical colleges that do not stick to rules or maintain proper faculty.