CPS Courses derecognised in Maharashtra
Mumbai: In a major setback for the postgraduate medical courses offered by the College of Physicians & Surgeons (CPS), the State Government of Maharashtra recently derecognised these courses and asked the medical institutes and hospitals not to admit students for any of the 26 diplomas or fellowships offered by CPS, Mumbai.
However, the State clarified that the candidates who have already been admitted to these PG courses before the notification was issued would not be affected by this.
Issuing an order in this regard, Maharashtra Medical Education Secretary Dr. Ashwini Joshi mentioned, "The qualifications conferred by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mumbai.... have been derecognised/deleted from the Schedule of Maharashtra Medical Council Act, 1965, and therefore, the colleges/hospitals/institutes shall not admit any candidates to the courses under said entries."
The State made it clear that the doctors holding the CPS diplomas and fellowships and registered under the Maharashtra State Medical Council shall not be barred from registration with the State Council or renewal of registration.
Meanwhile, CPS management is considering to appeal to the new minister. Speaking about this, the president of CPS, Dr. Girish Maindarkar told TOI, "We plan to appeal to the new minister to look into the merits of the case. Our legal team is looking into the decision."
This comes at a time when the CPS courses were already facing major controversies. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that referring to significant gaps in the standards or institutes offering CPS courses, the medical education department of Maharashtra recently wrote to the Union Health Ministry asking for its opinion on whether counselling can be conducted for around 1,100 CPS seats.
Writing to the Centre, the department referred to the inspection of the Maharashtra Medical Council conducted last year and how during the inspection, MMC had found "severe deficiencies" in several institutes.
Taking cognisance of the letter by Maharashtra Medical Education Department, the Central Government had earlier set up an eight-member committee to look into the matter.
Meanwhile, recently the Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) recommended to the Union Health Ministry for withdrawing the popular DPB- Diploma in Pathology and Bacteriology, DCH - Diploma in Child Health and DGO- Diploma Gynecology and Obstetrics courses run by CPS from the next academic year.
This recommendation has been given by the NMC Board after discussing the issue meeting held on 12.04.2023. NMC PG Board expressed its disagreement with the Ministry for providing equivalence to the CPS courses and pointed out that such courses do not come under the purview of NMC.
After NMC, the National Board of Examinations (NBE) also offered rejection to the CPS courses by refusing to bring them under the aegis of the NBE. This decision was revealed by the NBE officials during a meeting on May 25.
At this outset, States including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Karnataka were reportedly considering reducing the intake for the CPS courses or discontinuing them.
Recently the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) started inspecting CPS-affiliated institutes in Maharashtra, which had refused inspection last year. While around 74 institutes refused inspection last year, several of them allowed the MMC inspection this year.
As per the latest media report by the Times of India, amidst the ongoing controversy involving the CPS courses, Maharashtra Government on Friday derecognised the PG courses offered by CPS. The decision of the state has come around seven months after it informed the Centre about the various deficiencies identified by the State Council.
Meanwhile, CPS is trying to find out if its three courses including PG diploma in pathology, child health and gynaecology, which are recognised by the Union Health Ministry, can be continued. However, a state official clarified that CPS cannot run a single courses in Maharashtra after the State Government order.
The order of the State Government has elicited mixed responses from the doctors in the State. Commenting on this, Dr. Suhas Pungle, MMC member told TOI, "This is the end of an 11-year-old battle against the manner in which the CPS has been functioning." He further asked, "But what about the previous complaints of corruption and fraud?"
Speaking about this, the former MMC head, Dr. S Utture said that while the end of CPS is sad, it had to happen following the findings of the previous inspections. He said, "CPS had historical significance and contributed immensely in helping students, especially those from the rural areas, gather hands-on postgraduate medical education, but things had turned drastically for the worse."
However, a student pursuing CPS radiology diploma course supported the decision of the State and said that the quality of the institutes running the CPS courses was below par. Pointing out that most of the hospitals lacked the dedicated teachers, he further said, "My institute doesn't have advanced diagnostic technologies such as CT and MRI. The quality of doctors graduating from many CPS institutes was questionable."
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