Doctor Challenges BCMET Compulsion for Faculty Appointment, Matter in High Court

Lucknow: Challenging the eligibility criteria for the faculty recruitment process at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, a doctor from AIIMS Gorakhpur has filed a plea before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court.

While the eligibility criteria makes it mandatory for the applicants to produce the completion certificate of the Basic Course in Biomedical Research (BCBR) and Basic Course in Medical Education Technology (BCMET) courses, the petitioner, Dr. Amit Ranjan, argued that the requirement of BCBR and BCMET courses is not mandatory in INI institutes like AIIMS, and such a condition deprives meritorious candidates from institutes like AIIMS from participating in the recruitment process. 

He also pointed out that even those who are willing to undergo the course find it difficult to fulfil the eligibility criteria due to the institutional structure and limited access to the BCME course. The matter has been listed for hearing today, i.e. on 22.04.2025.

The petitioner is currently working as an Associate Professor and In-charge in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) at AIIMS, Gorakhpur. He was promoted to the post of Associate Professor while working at the institute. Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences issued an advertisement for appointment to the post of Professor (Down-gradable to Associate/Assistant Professor) on a regular/deputation basis.

However, the said advertisement required the candidate to produce the completion certificate of BCBR and BCMET course to be eligible. When the petitioner approached KGMU and BHU for completion of the BCMET course, he was informed that the said course, on account of limited seats, was only reserved for candidates who are working with institutions under the jurisdiction of NMC.

Also Read: BCMET Mandatory for Faculty promotions, Training must before LOP applications: NMC

The petitioner wrote an email to the Director of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute and informed that the requirement of BCBR and BCMET courses is not mandatory in INI institutions like AIIMS, and such a condition is depriving meritorious candidates from institutions like AIIMS from participating in the application process.

It was submitted by the petitioner that on 19.03.2025, the Director of the institute wrote to NMC and informed that on account of the imposition of the condition of requirement of BCBR and BCMET courses, eligible and meritorious candidates from AIIMS are unable to participate in the appointment process commenced via the advertisement.

Consequently, on 30.03.2025, when the petitioner tried to register/enrol his application on the online portal, he came to know that the portal was not working and had been closed prior to the time mentioned in the advertisement. Immediately, the petitioner wrote an email on the same day categorically stating that he had made an application in furtherance of the advertisement. However, the portal was prematurely closed in blatant violations of the terms of the advertisement, due to which the Petitioner was deprived of an opportunity to participate, he submitted.

Since, there was no action on the part of the authorities, aggrieved by this, the petitioner wrote another email to the Director of the institute raising the same issue and highlighting that the BCMET and BCBR certificate requirement is not mandatory for doctors working at institutions like AIIMS and other non-NMC regulated institutions and imposition of such conditions puts the candidates at a disadvantage.

The petitioner reiterated that the said issue was raised with the Higher Authorities of the NMC, however, no comment was made upon them, on account of which, the petitioner was unable to participate in the process. Therefore, he requested immediate action and intervention in order to provide equal recruitment opportunities to all the candidates.

He also made a representation to the Principal Secretary of Medical, Health & Family Welfare Department and the Minister of Home Affairs, requesting for immediate intervention in respect of the advertisement dated 22.02.2025, and complaining about the arbitrary inaction on the part of National Medical Commission (NMC) in respect of relaxation of the mandatory eligibility courses of BCMET and BCBR.

Unable to get any relief, the petitioner approached the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court and sought directions on the authorities commanding the Director of the institute to allow the petitioner participate in the appointment process, issue directions to consider the petitioner's eligibility in accordance with the relaxation granted by NMC through the notification dated 01.04.2025.

Relying on the NMC notification dated 01.04.2025, the petitioner argued that the Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) decided that in cases where the posts have been sanctioned and appointments have been made at the last moment, the appointments can be made without the BCMET training subject to the condition that the Principal Secretary gives and affidavit that training would be completed by the selected candidate within the next academic year.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that recently addressing the issue of BCMET, NMC on 01.04.2025 clarified that the medical college faculties must complete the Basic Course in Medical Education Technology (BCMET) to be promoted to the posts of Associate Professors and Professors.

Referring to the NMC notification dated 01.04.2025, the petitioner argued that the concerned notification also relaxes the eligibility criteria in respect of the recruitment process as well and considering this relaxation, the petitioner would be eligible to participate in the counselling process. Further pointing out that if the said NMC notification does not apply to the recruitment process, he urged NMC to provide similar relaxation in the present case as well. Meanwhile, the petitioner also submitted that he had applied for the online course of BCBR and his exam was conducted on 13.04.2025, and the results would be announced within 2 weeks. 

The plea stated, "...even if the Petitioner is willing and eligible otherwise, the institutional structure and limited access to the BCME course render it practically impossible for the Petitioner to fulfil the said requirement."

"...the overarching objective of the recruitment process is to attract and appoint the most competent candidates, and the imposition of arbitrary eligibility conditions undermines this objective by disqualifying deserving candidates solely on technical grounds unrelated to merit or professional competence," it further mentioned.

Meanwhile, recently, taking cognizance of the concerns raised by the medical college faculties regarding the delayed availability of slots for the Basic Course in Medical Education and Technology (BCMET), the National Medical Commission (NMC) provided relief to the doctors by specifying that if a faculty member completes the BCMET course after the due date of promotion and submits the completion certificate, then they should be promoted from their due date of promotion.

This comes after faculty members from medical colleges informed NMC regarding the delayed availability of slots for the BCMET from the designated institutes, and they also highlighted that the medical colleges did not follow any clear norms or seniority criteria for nomination to the limited slots for the BCMET courses.

Also Read: NMC announces relief on Faculty promotions