NMC slaps Rs 3 Lakh penalty on GMCH 32 Chandigarh

Chandigarh: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has imposed a Rs 3 lakh penalty on Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) Sector 32 for non-compliance with the standards set by the Commission, Amar Ujala has reported.

Issuing a notice to the medical college, NMC expressed its objections and imposed a Rs 3 lakh penalty. Now, the college administration is preparing a reply to the notice.

According to Amar Ujala report, NMC found several deficiencies including defects in the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric system. Further, the Commission found that 20 out of 290 departments had lesser attendance under AEBAS between the period of 1st January to 29th February 2024. 

Questions were also raised regarding inadequate patient attendance in the OPD, unavailability of data on dead bodies, and inadequate clinical operative load in General Surgery and ENT. It also came to light that the faculty manifesto and Family adoption program require to be reviewed and improved.

Also Read: First time: NMC slaps fine on 3 TN medical colleges for Faculty, Clinical Material Deficiencies

Amar Ujala has reported that a few months ago, NMC had raised objections about the attendance of doctors in GMCH-32. Back then, the Commission had allotted some time for improving the deficiencies. The questions regarding attendance, therefore, have again become a cause of trouble for the medical college. However, to overcome this hurdle, the college administration has issued strict instructions. 

Meanwhile, NMC has also questioned the number of patients in the OPD of the medical college. It pointed out that the number of patients is much less than the standard. The college administration informed that the OPD figures were decreasing due to the submission of the data of different departments separately. It further claimed that after correcting the data as per the standards, the same has been sent, which satisfies the Commission.

Further, the NMC has asked the college to submit a report within the next 15 days specifying the work done to remove the deficiencies. NMC has also mentioned in the notice that based on the shortcomings, the intake capacity of 150 MBBS seats at the medical college may also be reduced, adds the daily.

While the possibility of a reduction of seats seems not likely, considering the fact that the college is working on all aspects to remove the objections raised concerning the seats. 

As per the NMC notice, due to these reasons, the college's ranking is falling continuously, adds Amar Ujala.

During the Commission's investigation, it also came to light that there was a decrease in the presence of doctors in the OPD and concerns are also being raised in this regard. It is also being said that doctors are still hesitant about the Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance. Because of this, they are not marking their attendance despite being present in the hospital.

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.