Terna gets the MCI axe

“We considered at length the report of the inspection team and resolved that the Terna Medical College should not be recognised,” a senior member of the committee, which met in Darjeeling over the weekend, told Express Newsline today.

The inspection team had found that there were deficiencies in almost all the departments of the college and that the occupancy rate in its hospitals was less than 10 per cent.

“If this is the state of affairs, it will be difficult for the students to learn and ultimately the doctors produced will be most dangerous to society,” the member remarked.

Secondly, it was found that the Terna Medical College did not make any efforts to construct its own hospital. “It was observed that the hospitals attached to it were far apart, which caused inconvenience to the students,” the member said.

Just a day before the MCI team was to arrive, the college had quickly hired a number of doctors from the MGM Medical College, which is also run by another senior Congress leader and former Education Minister Kamal Kishore Kadam.

The doctors resigned in a group and joined the Terna College. After the inspection of the MCI, they returned to the MGM Medical College.

“Despite such tactics, Terna was unable to meet the norms prescribed by the MCI,” a senior official commented.

The MCI’s observations are significant as the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) had already recommended to the state government to stop admissions to Terna in view of its poor clinical and teaching facilities.

During a visit, an MMC team had found that the heads of two departments were over the stipulated age and that the college’s hospitals were in Kalyan, Panvel and Dombivli. The MMC team had remarked that it would be impossible for students to attend classes and observe patients simultaneously.

The MMC had then recommended to the government that if the college failed to rectify the deficiencies within three months, it should not be permitted to admit students from the ensuing academic session.

But the government is yet to decide on this though the admission process for medical colleges is about to start.

When the irregularities were brought to the attention of Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, he noted that the issue was very serious. His office has now asked the MMC to provide a comprehensive report on it.