Nearly 500 out of 706 Medical Colleges slapped Show-cause notice by NMC for MSR Non-Compliance: Report

New Delhi: Around 500 medical colleges out of the 706 colleges across the country have received show-cause notices from the Apex Medical Commission for failure to comply with the National Medical Commission's (NMC) Minimum Standard Requirement (MSR), Education Times has reported.

Moreover, as per the media report by Live Mint, show-cause notices were issued to nearly 80% of Indian Medical Colleges for not meeting even the minimum criteria laid down by the Commission.

During the NMC inspection conducted at these medical colleges, officials noted absenteeism of faculties, inadequate and poor infrastructure, and student grievances on issues such as ragging, inadequate hostels, and poor student-teacher relationships.

Following this, the Commission imposed penalties ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh and going up to Rs 1 crore. However, if these colleges do not improve their infrastructure, NMC plans to reduce the number of seats in these colleges. 

NMC introduced the provisions of monetary penalty in the Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations, 2023 or MSMER 2023. The Commission had mentioned that it may impose several forms of penalty such as issue warning to the medical college to rectify or comply, impose monetary penalty up to Rs 1 crore, impose penalty up to Rs 5 lakhs to the faculties of the medical college for misconduct. It may also withhold the accreditation process, recommend to the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) of NMC to withhold the application process for any new course including increase of seats in the existing course, reduce the number of students in the next or subsequent academic years, stop admission to one or more courses, recommend for withdrawal of permission, withhold or withdraw accreditation for up to five academic years.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the NMC had been in talks with the medical colleges across the country on a daily basis to ensure that the medical colleges have been complying with the requirements regarding faculty numbers, biometric attendance, clinical materials and other rules.

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Confirming that around 80% of medical colleges across the country were not complying with the minimum standard requirements, an official aware of the matter, told Live Mint, "We have started imposing fines on the medical colleges. Around 80% of colleges are not following rules set by NMC and have been found to be defaulters in terms of poor infrastructure, absence of faculties during teaching hours not putting their attendance on the system, equipment, deficiency in clinical material and non-compliance of minimum standards of requirements including number of classrooms required for 100 students."

"Depending upon the quantum of deficiencies being found in medical colleges, we are issuing the penalty. First is the first stage, even after this, medical schools do not improve themselves, we will start reducing the number of seats," the official further added.

Earlier, medical colleges were facing physical inspections, where a team of assessors would go and visit medical colleges and assess those facilities. This process was widely criticized and accused of being full of bribery and corruption. It was alleged that the assessor would take bribes and approve medical colleges.

However, under the new system, the Apex Medical Regulator is slowly moving online in terms of inspection of medical colleges as well as overseeing the fulfilment of requirements. Although online, with features, like AEBAS and biometric attendance system, it is being difficult for medical colleges to engage ghost faculties.

Commenting on this, a second official informed Mint, "Everything is being evaluated and when we see the shortcoming, we send them the notices and call them for an appeal. Over 500 colleges have been found to be defaulters and inspection is ongoing. We are having a video meeting with the college authorities to discuss the current situation and still we find significant shortages, then we are putting monetary fine on them. This is for both government & private colleges." The official further added on the condition of anonymity that two months' of time have been given to the medical colleges to rectify the deficiencies.

As per the rules, the medical colleges have to comply with the Minimum Standard Regulations (MSR) laid down by the Apex Medical Regulator. Referring to the fact that at least 500 medical colleges were found not complying with the MSR guidelines, the President of the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) Dr. Aruna V Vanikar told Education Times, "The Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) is not being followed in many colleges. NMC, during the assessment of medical colleges, has observed poor biometric attendance of doctors and a lack of faculty and infrastructure in at least 500 medical colleges till now."

"The colleges do not have OPDs, lacking in indoor beds, radiological infrastructure, and surgical parts which are essential for medical education. Besides this, few institutions are found fabricating death rates and birth rates. We must check such practice," she added.

Speaking on the monetary penalties imposed in these medical colleges, Dr. Vanikar further mentioned, "Following the assessment, the NMC has spoken to administrators of medical colleges about the lack of faculty and clinical material. Fines have also been imposed on colleges ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 1 crore based on the issues. We have observed that the exams in a few medical colleges are not conducted fairly, which has degraded the credibility of exams and medical education. The colleges have also been asked to install cameras and action has been initiated against institutes that have not complied with the NMC directions."

While the assessment process is still going on, an official from the Health Ministry informed the Daily on the condition of anonymity that most of the medical colleges in India including the central government institutes such as Vardhman Mahavir Medical College (VMMC) and Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, New Delhi, were found failing short of the standards set by the Apex Medical Regulator and they were told to pay fines by NMC.

"This time NMC has not reduced seats, instead it has imposed monetary penalties," the official further added.

Recently, for the first time, taking note of deficiencies in faculty and clinical material, NMC imposed fines on medical colleges for violating the Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (MSMER) rules. The Commission slapped a fine of up to Rs 3 lakh on government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu, including the colleges in Dharmapuri, Ramanathapuram, and Nagapattinam. Apart from these colleges, the Commission also issued show-cause notices to many other colleges for deficiencies in Aadhaar-based biometric attendance.

Further, Dr Anup Kumar Barman, Director of Medical Education (DME), Assam told ET, "It is challenging to maintain the NMC standard. As many as 12 medical colleges in Assam including Lakhimpur Medical College have been show caused either due to mismanagement or irregularities in biometric attendance of faculty staffs. In Assam, we witness frequent network issues and as a result, the attendance punch is not always recorded which has created discrepancies. Besides this, we do have faculty deficiencies similarly like other parts of the country. The colleges have been fined around Rs 2-10 lakh for the MSR deficiencies."

"The major issues in the colleges are meeting the attendance criteria of faculty staffs. Almost all the colleges have received NMC letter in West Bengal particularly the newly built ones in district hospitals. Most of the colleges in the state are reeling under severe faculty shortages and this is because the government is not promoting faculty staffs to higher levels while some professors are hand in glove with the senior government officials who are helping them avoid rural posting, creating crisis in medical colleges," said Dr. Pradip Kumar Mitra, DME West Bengal.

The Daily adds that Kolkata-based RG Kar Medical College and NRS Medical College received show cause notice from the Commission. In this regard, Dr. Mitra said, "Several private medical colleges somehow manage to pass the physical inspection while the government colleges fall short of required data as most of the verifications are online today. Also, biometric attendance is not fool proof as there are hits and misses compelling NMC to act. Medical education can only be improved with the help of local administration."

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