Is Pune's Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College at Risk of Losing NMC Recognition?
Show Cause Notice
Inadequate Faculties, Lack of Forensic Medicine Department: NMC Issues Show-Cause to Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College, Warns of Derecognition
Pune: Highlighting serious deficiencies in infrastructure, staffing, and facilities at the institute, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued a show-cause notice to Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College, which is run by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
In the show-cause notice, NMC has questioned why the recognition of the medical college should not be revoked and a fine of Rs 1 crore should not be imposed.
NMC has mentioned in the show-cause letter that the college lacked a sufficient number of professors, it does not have a forensic medicine department, and it does not provide hostel facilities for students.
Also Read: After TN, Karnataka faces NMC Heat over deficiencies- 22 GMCs slapped show-cause notices
As per the latest media report by Punekar News, NMC's show-cause letter mentioned that these violations have continued for over four years since the college was established.
Meanwhile, Former Deputy Mayor Dr. Siddharth Dhende criticised the PMC for launching the medical college without ensuring basic infrastructure and amenities. He also warned that if the Municipal Commissioner and Administrator, Dr. Rajendra Bhosale, failed to rectify these deficiencies on an immediate basis, he would launch an agitation.
Further, Dr. Dhende pointed out how during the tenure of the former Mayor Muralidhar Mohol and then-Commissioner Vikram Kumar, the medical college had been inaugurated with the assurances that the missing facilities would be developed after the approval. However, the key requirements have remained unfulfilled to date.
Speaking to the Daily, Dr. Dhende said, "The college is supposed to have professors who also serve at Kamala Nehru Hospital, but this is not happening. Repeated complaints have yielded no action from the dean."
He also criticised the lack of a forensic medicine department at the medical college. He claimed that due to this, the students were reportedly being sent to Pimpri-Chinchwad for related training.
Meanwhile, the final year medical students, who were admitted as the first batch, are especially in a dilemma regarding their future over the NMC show-cause. If the NMC cancels recognition, the academic future of these students could be severely impacted, and the credibility of the institute could also be questioned.
Amid all this, Dr. Dhende had called for an urgent intervention from the municipal administration to fulfil all NMC-mandated requirements and safeguard the college's status.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that recently NMC issued show cause notices to several medical colleges in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal highlighting deficiencies, especially the shortage of faculty.
