BJ Medical College gets NMC notice for shortage Deficiency in biometric attendance

Ahmedabad: In response to addressing deficiency in attendance which still remains a matter of concern, the National Medical Commission (NMC) recently served a show-cause notice to BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad after finding that the biometric attendance of their faculty had dropped below 75%.

Following this, the Apex Medical Commission has asked the management of the medical college to provide a comprehensive explanation for the inadequate attendance of their faculty. 

Also read- NMC Slaps Show-Cause To 100 Medical Colleges, Here Is The Reason

According to Vibes of India news report, the decision was taken based on data from the NMC portal which revealed that the biometric attendance of faculties at BJ Medical College was below 75%. This comes after NMC made it clear that all medical colleges in the country are required to maintain the standard attendance criteria.

Last year, NMC reiterated the importance of Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system (AEBAS) for faculty members before inspection to address the menace of ghost faculty in government and private medical colleges.

Medical dialogues had earlier reported about NMC issuing show-cause notices to 100 medical colleges across the country as the faculties in those institutes failed to meet the 75% attendance criteria. All these medical colleges have been given 15 days to reply to the notice, failing which they will face punitive action.

Faculty shortage has remained an obstacle for several medical colleges across the country. To meet the faculty requirements, several medical colleges take help from guest lecturers, even though it is not permitted under the NMC rules.

Meanwhile, the NMC rules specify that undergraduate and postgraduate medical colleges imparting medical education must ensure that their faculties have 75% attendance of the total working days.

Last year, the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of NMC notified the "Guidelines for Under Graduate Courses under Establishment of New Medical Institutions, Starting of New Medical Courses, Increase of Seats for Existing Courses & Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023", or the UG-MSR-2023 on August 16, 2023 in its official Gazette.

Para 3.1 (i) & (ii) of UG-MSR 2023 specifies that all medical colleges shall install an Aadhaar-Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) to be linked to Command and Control center of NMC and the daily AEBAS of the required staff (faculty, residents and supporting staff), preferably along with face linked recognition, shall be made available to NMC as well as on the Medical College Website in the form of daily attendance dashboard.

Further, these guidelines also specified that it shall be mandatory for medical colleges to have at least 75% of the total working days (excluding vacations) for all faculty and resident doctors.

Also read- Ensure 75 Percent Faculty Attendance Or Lose Recognition: NMC Warns Medical Colleges