NMC Upholds Student Admission Ban For 9 Out of 150 Medical Colleges Under Scrutiny

The medical colleges undergo periodic inspections and this issue came to prominence earlier this year when the NMC de-recognised or issued notices to 150 colleges

A total of nine educational institutions, mainly private or trust-managed, are currently ineligible to admit students for the ongoing MBBS batch (2023-2024), amounting to 1,500 seats being unavailable. Among these nine colleges, two are located in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, while the remaining institutions are in Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar.

According to the report shared by The Indian Express, at least two of these colleges are facing allegations of non-cooperation and misconduct from the assessment team. The medical colleges undergo periodic inspections, this issue came to prominence earlier this year when the National Medical Commission (NMC) de-recognised or issued notices to 150 colleges. The flagged concerns pertained to issues such as inadequate patient and staff numbers, as well as non-adoption of the new camera and biometric attendance-based system.

A National Medical Commission official told The Indian Express that most of the colleges have been recognized yet again after appeals to NMC or the health ministry. He told, “This is because the colleges, especially the well-established or government ones, corrected minor deficiencies. For example, some colleges had stopped marking attendance on the biometric system since COVID-19. Some colleges did not have enough faculty members. If the deficiency is not more than 10 per cent, departments can admit students for the year while they fill up positions.”

These developments coincide with the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) efforts to institute a fresh regime of ongoing oversight for medical colleges. This approach involves the utilization of hospital cameras, an Aadhaar-based biometric attendance system, and the integration of the hospital’s health system management data to facilitate continuous monitoring.

The official further added that the major deficiencies were still found at some colleges.“If a medical college hospital has a shortage of patients and faculty members to the extent that cannot be immediately corrected, they will not be allowed to take in students for the current batch.”

The NMC representative clarified that students enrolled in prior batches would remain unaffected. Nonetheless, colleges that rectify their deficiencies prior to the commencement of the fourth and concluding round of counselling on September 21 will still not have permission to admit students for the current batch.