NMC cancels recognition of three medical colleges in Assam
Guwahati: In response to the violations of its medical education standards set by the National Medical Commission (NMC), three medical colleges in Assam including Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) and Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College (Barpeta Medical) have been derecognised by the council.
The colleges were not found to be complying with the set norms and several lapses related to CCTV cameras, Aadhaar-linked biometric attendance procedures, and faculty rolls were found during inspections carried out by the Commission.
The NMC has been repeatedly asking all the medical colleges to implement Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS), to regularly capture the attendance of human resources as specified in the regulations at their premises.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that in a major crackdown over non-compliance to its mandated standards for imparting medical courses, the apex medical regulatory body, NMC has so far de-recognised around 40 medical colleges in the last two months. According to officials, about 100 other medical institutes are presently under the scanner and are likely to face the NMC action soon.
“About 40 medical colleges have lost recognition over the last one to two months period for not meeting the standards set by the NMC… A further 100 medical colleges in Puducherry, Gujarat, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu are also likely to lose recognition for not complying with the NMC's standards,” they stated.
In December, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya had warned of action against medical colleges that do not stick to rules or maintain proper faculty.
However, the superintendent of GMCH Dr Abhijit Sharma has blamed the NMC officials for its derecognition. According to him, the NMC officials carried out the inspection during a holiday, and the situation may have been avoided if the team had done the assessment after considering State and National holidays.
Speaking to Pratidin Time, Dr. Sharma said, “NMC team visited our medical college for inspection on January 23, 2023, which is a national holiday and the college was also having a winter break. At least, 50 percent of our staff was on vacation during that time.”
Even though NMC cancels recognition of medical colleges due to certain violation to its mandated standards for imparting medical courses, the colleges can always appeal before the competent authorities for reconsideration. Therefore, GMCH authorities have decided to take necessary steps to rectify the shortcomings stated by the council and reapply to get back the recognition again.
The affected medical colleges have the option to appeal this decision within 30 days, with the first appeal to be made at the NMC. If the appeal is rejected, the institutions can approach the Union Ministry of Health for further recourse.
Explaining the issue, Dr. Sarma further said, “We received compliances on a few subjects that were immediately addressed by the authorities and fulfilled those lapses and submitted the report to the commission. We are waiting for their response. I feel the term ‘suspended’ would be wrong as there were some discrepancies regarding the sending of the dates for inspection because they sent their team during the holidays which according to general instructions is not permitted.”
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