Council puts admissions to girls’ medical college on hold

“In view of the orders of the MCI, we have given specific instructions to the Registrar of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik, that admission process for the said college should not be initiated until further orders,” a senior official said.

The official said the admission process for the private as well as government medical colleges will begin immediately after the declaration of the results of the Common Entrance Test. “The results of the CET will be declared a week after the declaration of the HSC results. But in view of MCI orders, no admissions will be made to the D Y Patil Medical College,” the official said.

The MCI has communicated to the Centre that in view of several shortcomings, including inadequate teaching and non-teaching staff, equipments and hospital facilities, it would be advisable to restrain the D Y Patil Medical College for Girls from admitting students from the ensuing academic session. “By and large, once such an order is passed, the MCI prescribes specific time limit to improve the situation. However, in the present case, we do not know if such order has been passed. We have only been told to stop admissions. We feel that if the college is not allowed the admit the students, then its survival will be difficult,” the official said.

The erstwhile Sena-BJP government had granted permission to the D Y Patil Pratisthan to start a medical college exclusively for girls from the 1996-97 academic session with an intake capacity of 100 students.

Significantly, all is not well with the private as well as government medical colleges owing to inadequate and incompetent teaching, shortage of medical equipments and poor hospital facilities. “If the MCI adheres to the norms in letter and spirit, then barring 10 to 12 medical colleges, all the remaining 32 medical colleges will be derecognised,” the official said.

As per official records, except 12 medical colleges, including those institutions run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, remaining medical colleges have blatantly violated the norms prescribed by the MCI. One of the most important recommendations made by MCI is that the system of appointing part time teachers should be abandoned as such teachers are least interested in patient care as well as academic activities.

Despite specific directives, except the municipal medical colleges, the government has continued with the honorary system for obvious political reasons. In some of the medical colleges, part time teachers have been appointed as head of the departments against the norms prescribed by the MCI. “We will not be surprised if the MCI derecognises degree courses conducted by the government-run Grant Medical College and J J group of hospitals. If municipal corporation can do away with the honorary system, why the government is continuing with the same,” a senior teacher said.