Medical Colleges Responsible to Implement NMC Anti-Ragging Measures: Gujarat Govt
Ahmedabad: Issuing a directive, the Gujarat Government stated that the Deans of medical colleges across the State are directly responsible for implementing anti-ragging measures laid down by the National Medical Commission (NMC) in 2021.
The State Government also mentioned that it was up to the deans of the medical colleges to ensure strict implementation of these regulations, TOI has reported.
Issuing the resolution in this regard on March 21, the Government said, "The NMC regulations, issued on Nov 18, 2021, should be implemented by all medical colleges run by the state govt, Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS), municipal corporations and private trusts. And the responsibility of strict implementation of these regulations is of the deans of the colleges."
Meanwhile, reliable sources informed the Times of India, "Administrative challenges persist in all 13 GMERS medical colleges of Gujarat. The absence of permanent leadership positions, including for deans and superintendents, has led to institutional oversight. The death of a student at Dharpur GMERS Medical College in Patan has highlighted these gaps."
They further mentioned that the institute, like its counterparts, operates under an acting dean, Dr. Hardik Shah, and has remained without a permanent appointment for several years.
GMERS was established in 2010 and there are eight GMERS colleges with an intake capacity of 200 students each and five newer colleges that can accommodate 100 students each.
The GMERS college in Patan was one of the eight colleges that were set up in 2010 and exemplifies the administrative difficulties, sources informed TOI. They indicated that the acting deans manage these GMERS colleges, while temporary superintendents visit merely once or twice a week. In the case of GMERS Patan, the acting Dean does not resident on the campus and travels to work.
As per the daily, due to the unavailability of permanent rectors in numerous college hostels including GMERS Patan, the issue of insufficient supervision continues. Amid this, Medical educators have warned that without any swift action on the part of the government to establish proper administrative structures, similar incidents could occur at other GMERS institutes also.
The Medical Dialogues team had recently reported about a disturbing incident of ragging at GMERS Patan, where an 18-year-old first-year MBBS student of GMERS Medical College and Hospital died after allegedly being made to stand for three hours during ragging by his seniors at the college hostel. Altogether 15 seniors were suspended in this connection and booked in a criminal case.
Also Read:Gujarat Horror: MBBS student dies after ragging by seniors, forced to stand for 3 hours
