NMC Renewal to Only 1 Medical College in Gujarat, 37 institutes awaiting nod
NMC Approves Increase of Medical Seats
Ahmedabad: Among the 38 existing medical colleges in Gujarat, only one has received the National Medical Commission's (NMC) annual renewal permission.
TOI has reported that only one private medical college in Kalol has received the required renewal permission from the Commission so far, while the remaining 37 colleges are still awaiting for the Commission's nod.
NMC, the Apex Medical Education Regulatory Body grants approval to all medical colleges during the registration process for admission to medical and dental courses.
In Gujarat, the admission process for medical and dental courses is underway, and already more than 20,000 students in the State have registered for the same.
The Central Government has requested to complete the first round of admissions by August 29, 2024.
However, most of the college administrations in Gujarat are placed in a difficult situation as 37 out of 38 colleges in the State have not received the NMC renewal. As per the latest media report by the Times of India, around 500 medical colleges nationwide, including the 37 medical colleges in Gujarat have not yet received approval from the Commission.
Recently, the Union Health Minister Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda shared the data regarding the total number of MBBS seats and medical colleges in India. As per the data provided by the Ministry, there are altogether 7150 MBBS seats available in 40 medical colleges in the State.
Also Read: Medical Colleges Under Tight Scrutiny of National Medical Commission
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the NMC had been in talks with the medical colleges across the country on a daily basis to ensure that the medical colleges have been complying with the requirements regarding faculty numbers, biometric attendance, clinical materials and other rules.
Earlier, medical colleges were facing physical inspections, where a team of assessors would go and visit medical colleges and assess those facilities. This process was widely criticized and accused of being full of bribery and corruption. It was alleged that the assessor would take bribes and approve medical colleges. However, under the new system, the Apex Medical Regulator is slowly moving online in terms of inspection of medical colleges as well as overseeing the fulfilment of requirements. Although online, with features, like AEBAS and biometric attendance system, it is being difficult for medical colleges to engage ghost faculties.
Recently, for the first time, taking note of deficiencies in faculty and clinical material, NMC imposed fines on medical colleges for violating the Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (MSMER) rules. The Commission slapped a fine of up to Rs 3 lakh on government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu, including the colleges in Dharmapuri, Ramanathapuram, and Nagapattinam. Apart from these colleges, the Commission also issued show-cause notices to many other colleges for deficiencies in Aadhaar-based biometric attendance.
