Faculty Issues: NMC withholds Recognition of Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College
Shimla: In a major setback to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College at Nerchowk in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has withheld recognition to the institute.
Since the apex medical education regulatory body NMC has not granted recognition to the medical college because of "faculty-related issues", now it will have to re-apply for recognition after addressing the deficiencies pointed out by the Commission.
Recently, the Commission conducted an inspection of the medical college when the first batch was appearing for the final examination. During the inspection, NMC referred to a few staff-related issues and asked for a response from the college authorities.
The medical colleges are granted recognition only after a team of NMC conducts an inspection of the medical colleges during the final examination of the first batch. Denial of recognition, even on a temporary basis, can result in problems to the students who are planning to apply for jobs outside the state, Dr Sita Thakur, the Director of Medical Education opined.Faculty-related
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Commenting on the recent inspection at Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College, the principal of the institute Dr DK Verma told The Tribune, “The NMC pointed out a few staff-related issues and asked for our response, which we have sent. We will reassess our staff and apply for another inspection.”
“At times, the recognition comes even later… and in that case, retrospectively,” he mentioned while adding that “These students will have no problems within the state. But if they apply for jobs outside the state, they may face issues on account of the pending recognition,”
The daily adds that apart from Mandi medical college, three other medical colleges in Nahan, Chamba and Hamirpur are also facing the issue of pending recognition by NMC. Incidentally, all of these four medical colleges opened in the State back in 2016.
Addressing the issue of pending recognition, the principal of Nahan Medical College, Dr. Shyam Kaushik added, “We have some infrastructural issues, which are being addressed. The NMC has done a virtual inspection of our college and we are waiting for its report.”
“The delay in recognition will affect the students passing out from our colleges,” added Dr. Pankaj Gupta, the principal of Chamba College, which also is waiting for the NMC recognition.
In the case of Chamba medical college, the main issue was acute shortage of faculty. An official informed the daily that the college is addressing the issue temporarily by sending staff from Shimla and Tanda medical colleges.
