IMA questions blanket permit given by NMC, seeks Intervention of UP CM over pending recognition for three medical colleges
New Delhi: Raising the issue of the medical students enrolled in three medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh, who are suffering because of pending recognition from the National Medical Commission (NMC), the Indian Medical Association has recently approached the Chief Minister of the State Yogi Adityanath.
In the letter directed to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, IMA has further "put forth serious concerns about Incautious working at the National Medical Commission," as it blamed the blanket permit given by NMC for this situation.
The association has alleged that the current situation is a result of NMC's decision of granting permission to medical colleges only on the basis of affidavits.
"It is an example of absolute incautious and careless functioning. Indian Medical Association in the best interests of medical education and student's requests for immediate intervention for better functioning at National Medical Commission," IMA stated in the letter while requesting the Chief Minister to intervene.
The matter concerns three medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh including Government Allopathic Medical College at Banda, Government Medical College at Azamgarh, and Government Medical College at Saharanpur.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that around 300 MBBS graduates from these three medical colleges were facing an uncertain future as they are unable to register with the State Medical Faculty (SMF) in the absence of recognition from the Apex medical commission.
SMF is the representative body of NMC in the State of Uttar Pradesh. In order to practice in the State of Uttar Pradesh or pursue higher studies, it is mandatory for Medical Graduates to obtain registration from the SMF. The State Medical Faculty gives registration to the medical and dental graduates only from a recognised medical or dental college.
Even if the medical graduates wish to go to other States for practice, then also they need to have a registration from SMF. In the absence of registration, a practicing doctor may be treated as a quack and the Chief Medical Officer of the respective district may initiate legal action against them.
Reportedly, the MBBS students of 2017 batch of these three medical colleges, who graduated in 2022, have been facing a situation concerning lack of recognition for the last year. Meanwhile, the 2018 batch MBBS students are about to appear in the exams and complete the MBBS course in 2023 and they are also worried about their future.
While the MBBS students who graduated from these medical colleges in 2022 have not got registration from SMF, they have been given a provisional registration and the authorities have assured to resolve the matter at the earliest.
Meanwhile, raising the matter, IMA has blamed NMC for the problems faced by the medical students. The association mentioned in the letter, "Registration with the state medical council is the basic necessity for getting licence to practice or even for further education. The National Medical Commission's (NMC) decisions to grant permission to medical colleges solely on the basis of an affidavit has created today's situation as colleges are still on wait for recognition from MAR Board in NMC."
"It is an example of absolute incautious and careless functioning. Indian Medical Association in the best interests of medical education and student's requests for immediate intervention for better functioning at National Medical Commission," the association further mentioned as it urged CM Adityanath to intervene.
While commenting on the matter, IMA National President, Dr. Sharad Kr. Agarwal told Medical Dialogues, "This is actually a failure on the part of NMC. Both NMC and the Government are more interested in increasing the number of medical colleges without being concerned about the quality of the same. Why is NMC giving permission only on the basis of an affidavit?"
"We have written to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and sought his intervention in this regard. It is the duty of the State to ensure that an appropriate number of faculties are available at a medical college and also to make sure that the medical colleges comply with all the requirements of NMC. If this is the status of the government medical colleges, one can easily understand what is the scenario in the private medical colleges," he added.
Referring to the issue faced by the medical graduates, he further mentioned, "300 medical graduates are on road. They have completed their internship as well but they are unable to get their registration. We believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg as we do not know how many students and medical colleges across India are facing the same problem."
