10,000 MBBS seats, of 64,000 available, will be blocked
AMN / NEW DELHI
The Health Ministry has barred 82 medical colleges in the country from giving admissions to students for the academic session 2018-19, based on the recommendation of the Medical Council of India (MCI).
The MCI pointed out various deficiencies such as inadequate infrastructure, faculty and resources during its inspections of these colleges. Official sources said, the order of banning 82 medical colleges – 70 private and 12 government – means more than 10,000 MBBS seats, of the total 64,000 available, will be blocked.
The government has also denied permission for the establishment of 68 new medical colleges, 31 government and 37 private, axing another potential 9000 MBBS seats.
Nine medical colleges, four government and five private, were stopped from expanding their seats by at least 50 seats each.
31 medical colleges were barred from either starting new super speciality courses, such as those in cardiology, nephrology, plastic surgery, etc. or expanding seats in existing courses.
The list included Lucknow’s King George Medical College University, stopped from expanding or starting MCh (Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery) and MCh (Neurosurgery), Christian Medical College Vellore, disallowed courses in MCh (Reproductive Medicine& Surgery), DM (Nephrology), DM (Pediatrics Neurology), Institute of Liver & Billiary Sciences, New Delhi, disallowed DM (Hepatology), MCh (HPB Surgery) and DM (Pediatrics Hepatology), etc.
The decisions came after assessment by the Medical Council of India, the apex government body in charge of medical education and ethics. The loss of seats is bound to hit the lakhs of aspiring medical students, already fighting for seats that are not nearly enough in number to accommodate all of them.
“People want to create things (medical colleges) without realising what the colleges require,” a member of the MCI’s academic committee was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.