Chintpurni Medical College debarred from admitting MBBS students this academic year

Chandigarh: In a major setback to Chintpurni Medical College, Pathankot, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has debarred the institute from admitting fresh MBBS students for the academic year 2023-2024.

The Apex medical commission has taken this decision after it found serious deficiencies in the medical college in respect of faculty, patient load, and infrastructure.

Earlier this year, a five-member panel of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) had also found glaring deficiencies in the medical college in terms of patient load as well as faculty and infrastructure.

Medical Dialogues had previously reported that the BFUHS panel had alleged in a report that the medical college, which got the NMC nod last year, does not have adequate infrastructure and the careers of MBBS students at the medical college were getting jeopardized because of the absence of patients, infrastructure, and teachers. Following this, the Punjab Government took cognisance of the matter.

In a letter directed to the Director of NMC, the State Additional Chief Secretary of Medical Education and Research, Anurag Agarwal had referred to the issue as a matter of grave concern and pointed out that despite earning the NMC nod, the college was not complying with the statutory regulations and guidelines.

Also Read: NMC probe sought over BFUHS report on deficiencies at Chintpurni Medical College

Apart from referring to the deficiencies in the infrastructure of the medical college, the Additional Chief Secretary also pointed out the fact that the medical college was found overcharging students beyond prescribed fees.

Expressing deep concern over the future of the medical students enrolled at the medical college, he mentioned in the letter, “We urge you to take immediate action against the management of the college and ensure that they comply with the rules and regulations set by the NMC.”

As per the latest media report by The Tribune, NMC conducted an inspection and found serious deficiencies in terms of faculty, patient load and infrastructure. On the basis of this, the apex medical commission has now refused permission to the medical college to admit MBBS students this year.

Commenting on the matter, the Chairman of the College Swaran Salaria told the daily that Chintpurni was not the only college which had been disapproved by NMC. He mentioned, “It found some deficiencies. We will overcome these. We are hopeful that the NMC will allows us to admit the fresh batch after some undertaking or fresh inspection.”

Medical Dialogues had extensively reported about the controversial shutdown of Chintpurni Medical College after the Board of Governors of erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI) had found that the institute was admitting students without the MCI approval ever since its inception in 2011. In addition, the college did not have the necessary infrastructure and did not provide adequate facilities for the purpose of medical studies.

Consequently, the Executive Committee of MCI recommended debarring the petitioner College from admitting students for two academic years i.e. 2017-18 and 2018-19 and to encash the bank guarantee of Rs 2 crores that was furnished by the petitioner at the time of grant of recognition dated 26.09.2016. The Central Government had accepted the MCI recommendation.

Following this, the 2011-12 and 2014-15 batch of students were shifted to other medical colleges in the state on the directions of the Supreme Court after the students sought to transfer to other medical colleges in the state. The top court had also dismissed the plea challenging the Central Government orders and had stated that the college would be entitled to pursue the permission for the academic years 2019- 20 and 2020-21 after the period of the ban.

However, last year, NMC granted its permission to Chintpurni Medical College to admit students in 150 MBBS seats after inspecting the infrastructure of the medical college.

Also Read: NMC nod to Chintpurni Medical College, BFUHS to hold Special State Counselling for 150 MBBS seats