No NMC Recognition for 3 Medical Colleges, Tamil Nadu to lose 500 MBBS Seats

Chennai: In a major setback to undergraduate medical education in Tamil Nadu, the State may lose permission to admit MBBS students in three medical colleges as the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) has decided to withdraw recognition to these institutes for deficiencies in Aadhaar-based biometric attendance and footage of cameras installed in these colleges.

These three medical colleges include Government Stanley Medical College Hospital in Chennai, K A P Viswanathan Government Medical College in Trichy and Government Dharmapuri Medical College and Hospital. The intake capacity in these three medical colleges is for 500 MBBS seats.

Writing to the deans of these medical colleges, the director of UGMEB Shambhu Sharan Kumar informed about its decision to withdraw recognition as it found the response regarding deficiencies in the biometric attendance and cameras to be "not satisfactory".

While the UGMEB has decided to penalise these medical colleges, the institutes can apply before the National Medical Commission (NMC) challenging the decision of UG Board.

Also Read: NMC allows provisional registration to MBBS graduates irrespective of the recognition status of their Medical Colleges

Commenting on the matter, the State director of medical education Dr. R Shanti Malar told the Times of India, "We will ensure admission of fresh students to our colleges is not stopped. All of our colleges have biometric attendance."

"Some doctors may not report to work either because it is their weekly off or because they are taking leave. We have attendance records and leave letters, but the board wants faculty absence to be registered on these machines," she mentioned adding that the cameras in some of the colleges have become dysfunctional, or the angles got altered because of weather conditions.

The Daily adds that the senior officials held discussions on Friday with the Health Secretary Gagandeep Singh to set the systems right. Referring to this, Dr. Malar added,  "We will ensure we have a person to focus on updating all absentees on the biometric system. The compliance report will be sent on Monday."

Medical Dialogues had recently reported that NMC denied continuation of recognition to Puducherry based Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (IGMCRI) for 150 MBBS seats.

UGMEB took this decision as it found deficiencies in the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) and installation or functioning of cameras in the college.

"After hearing the college authorities and careful consideration of the facts and compliance, it has been opined by the UGMEB that the response by college authorities is not found satisfactory and IGMC & RI still does not qualify for the minimum requirement of faculty and resident doctors on AEBAS and also installation/ function of cameras. Hence, the application for continuation of recognition of MBBS degree (150 seats) awarded by Pondicherry University in respect of the students being trained at IGMC & RI, Puducherry is disapproved," said Shambhu Sharan Kumar in the letter.

Also Read: NMC Denies Continuation of Recognition, IGMCRI loses 150 MBBS Seats