Maharashtra could lose 1,100 CPS seats, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari Expresses Concern

Mumbai: In the latest update regarding the controversy surrounding the admission process of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS) courses in Maharashtra, the Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari has recently written to the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra and expressed his concerns regarding the issue.

Writing to State Chief Secretary Manukumar Srivastava, Gadkari referred to the resistance on the part of the State Medical Education Department (MED) of Maharashtra for commencing the counselling process. He also pointed out that this could ultimately result in the State losing around 1,100 CPS seats this year, adds TOI.

Meanwhile, the Medical Education Department of Maharashtra stands firm in its decision and it has sent a show-cause notice to the CPS management and demanded an explanation regarding the deficiencies found in its affiliated institutes within March 21.

Established back in 1912, CPS Mumbai is an autonomous body that imparts Postgraduate medical education and offers fellowship, diploma and certificate courses for the medical professionals. For the Diploma courses, the tenure is of two years and in case of Fellowship, the tenure is three years. After obtaining the qualification granted by CPS Mumbai, the practitioners become allowed to register themselves as specialists in the concerned specialty.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that currently, more than 3,000 aspiring medical professionals are facing uncertainty regarding their admission to CPS courses. Even though the Central Government has already conducted National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) Examination for 2023-2024 and the admission for the previous session ended around mid-January, CPS admissions for the academic year 2022-2023 have not even commenced.

For three years, CPS admissions in Maharashtra had been done by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER). This year, the Union Ministry had issued a letter to the States on January 12, 2023 and asked them to commence the admission process for CPS courses.

Also Read: Institutes offering CPS courses lack adequate standards: Maharashtra Medical Education Department to Centre

The controversy regarding CPS admissions in Maharashtra commenced after referring to significant gaps in the standards of institutes offering College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS) affiliated courses, the medical education department of Maharashtra recently wrote to the Union Health Ministry asking for its opinion on whether counselling can be conducted for around 1,100 CPS seats.

Writing to the Centre, the department referred to the inspection of the Maharashtra Medical Council conducted last year and how during the inspection, MMC had found "severe deficiencies" in several institutes.

While the Medical Education Department of Maharashtra has sought explanation from the CPS management regarding the deficiencies found in the affiliated institutes, Union Minister Gadkari has taken a side of the Association of CPS Affiliated Institutes, adds the Times of India. Writing to the State Secretary, Gadkari criticized the medical education secretary Dr Ashwini Joshi.

In the letter dated March 9, the Union Minister alleged that Dr Joshi was obstructing the admission process and disrupting the functioning of the department. Supporting the CPS Affiliated Institutes, Gadkari mentioned how CPS admissions usually start within 15 days of completion of MD/MS/DNB admissions. "The admissions for MD, MS, DNB ended on January 18, but CPS admissions haven't started..." stated the letter.

The Union Minister called for intervention of State Chief Secretary and pointed out that in case of any further delays in the admission process of 2022, the association has expressed fear that the State could lose altogether 1,100 CPS seats.

TOI adds that five days later, Dr Joshi issued a fresh notice to CPS and sought explanation as to why courses run by CPS should not be removed from the schedule of the Maharashtra Medical Council. Further, Dr Joshi has also asked CPS for disclosing the fee that it was collecting from the affiliated colleges. The representatives of CPS have been given time till 3pm on March 21 for submitting their response or face appropriate action.

The Medical Education Department reiterated the findings of the inspection of 120 CPS institutes and pointed out that two of them were closed and 73 refused to be inspected. In case of the remaining 45 institutes, most of them had been found to be lacking in respect of teaching staff and beds.

"Under Section 28 (2) of the Maharashtra Medical Council Act, 1965, the government is empowered to curtail the courses..," stated the letter by Dr Joshi. She further mentioned that CPS collects an affiliation cost from the affiliated institutes and the details regarding the same should be made available to the government.

Further, Dr Joshi has opined that the data regarding the faculty level persons sent for inspecting the institutes and copies of inspection reports conducted by CPS for affiliation in the previous years should also be disclosed.

Also Read: Centre recognises 36 CPS Diploma courses, details