NMC Denies Continuation of Recognition, IGMCRI loses 150 MBBS Seats

Puducherry: In a major setback to Puducherry-based Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (IGMCRI), the National Medical Commission (NMC) has decided not to grant "continuation of recognition" for 150 MBBS seats at the medical college.

The apex medical commission has taken this decision as it opined that the college lacked the required number of faculty and resident doctors. Communicating to the Dean of the medical college, the Director of the Under Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), Shambhu Sharan Kumar further informed that the college does not have an Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) and installation/functioning of cameras as well.

MBBS admissions at IGMCRI commenced in 2010 and later the institute got a permanent registration in 2015 for 150 MBBS seats. The Union Government added 30 more seats to the institute under the EWS category back in 2019. Therefore, the institute had an intake capacity for altogether 180 MBBS seats. 

Since it is mandatory to inspect the medical colleges every five years, it was scheduled to be conducted in 2020. However, due to the ongoing pandemic situation, no physical inspection was carried out that year.

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As per the latest media report by The New Indian Express, finally, the virtual assessment was done by the team appointed by the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) of NMC back on April 12, and April 13, 2022. Consequently, physical verification was conducted on January 4, 2023.

During the inspection, the NMC board found certain deficiencies regarding the number of teaching faculties and footage of cameras installed at the medical college. Accordingly, the Commission informed to the college authorities about the deficiencies through a letter dated April 17, 2023.

The response of the college was sought and after considering the response of the institute, a virtual hearing was held on May 15, 2023. Following this, NMC provided the college with an option to appeal for recognition after rectifying the deficiencies. 

Commenting on the matter, the Director of IGMCRI, C Udhayshankar told TNIE, "We have certain minor technical deficiencies and they are being sorted out now. We will be appealing soon and are confident that the recognition will be restored."

He further clarified that there is no deficiency in the number of faculties in the medical college. He further claimed that the faculties have been asked to mark their attendance on a regular basis through AEBAS. 

Referring to the issue of the installation of cameras, Udhayashankar informed the Daily that 25 cameras and a modem worth Rs 2 lakh have been installed and the cameras are getting linked to the website of the Apex medical commission.

According to the data shared by the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Puducherry has a total number of 9 medical colleges with an intake capacity of 1630 MBBS seats. Among these, 380 MBBS seats are available at 2 Government medical colleges and another 1250 MBBS seats are available at 7 private medical institutes.

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