MCI members quote their own rulebooks

According to Part VI of the MCI Regulations, the executive committee can call a meeting on its own only one month before the members of the Council are to meet. Any other meeting has to be called ‘‘only at places and times as the president may determine’’. Moreover, all committee members have to be notified and a circular issued 10 days before the date for a meeting is set.

However, the committee conducted a meeting on February 18, three weeks after Jhingon called a meeting on January 31. And in what is obviously a point of controversy, committee members are quoting a different section of the MCI Regulations, calling their February 18 meeting bona fide.

‘‘Under Section IV of the regulations, it states that the executive committee is responsible for calling its own meetings,’’ says Dr P.M. Jadhav, a committee member.

Among other issues, the executive committee members decided to renew Letters of Permission (LOP) to two medical colleges — the Subharati Medical College, Meerut and Era’s Lucknow Medical College, Lucknow — allowing them to admit their second batches of students.

After a Letter of Intent is given for the establishment of a new medical college, an LOP is granted to allow the first batch of students admission. This LOP has to be renewed every year for the first five years. On the basis of annual inspection reports by the MCI, the executive committee may or may not recommend the LOP renewal to the Ministry of Health.

The renewal of permission for these two colleges was on the Supplementary Agenda of the January 31 meeting, but Jhingon says the committee decided ‘‘it hadn’t had time to look over the inspection reports’’. However, the managements of both colleges wrote to the Ministry urging for renewal of LOPs.

Members of the executive committee then called the February meeting, which Jhingon alleges, is ‘‘in violation of the MCI Regulations’’, and decided to renew the LOPs to the two colleges. Jadhav says the meeting was called because ‘‘so many cases are pending’’ , ‘‘but Jhingon is uncommunicative and refuses to listen to us.’’