The ministry of health and family welfare has agreed to give time to Patna Medical College to rectify deficiencies related to infrastructure and faculty crunch, found by an MCI team, to run 50 additional seats of MBBS seats.

Earlier,the Medical Council of India (MCI) had recommended the ministry not to approve the 50 extra MBBS seats, as they found many anomalies, most of them related to infrastructure, during a visit to the premier medical college in November last year.

The MCI had given its nod to increase the MBBS seats of Patna Medical College from 100 to 150 in 2013-end. The move of the MCI was quite surprising, as earlier the college had to submit a compliance with the undertaking of the chief secretary.

Sources said this time, the MCI team had raised objection on the inadequate space and absence of Indian and foreign journals in the library. The team had also pointed out old tables being used in operating theatres and absence of computerised system to keep medical record of the patients. However, MCI's biggest objection was on the issue of faculty crunch. Sources said at present, the faculty crunch is around 11.5 per cent.

Dr S.N. Sharma, head, physiology department, Patna Medical College , who took part in the meeting convened by the ministry on Tuesday, admitted that the institute had been given time to rectify its deficiencies.

He said: "In the meeting, I informed the ministry that we have started taking measures to rectify the various deficiencies of the college. So far as faculty crunch is concerned, senior residents have been recently recruited. However, it would take time to rectify infrastructure-related deficiencies."

Sharma added that officials of the ministry told him that the college would be informed about the deadline for rectifying the deficiencies within a week.

A source at Patna Medical College, however, said it wouldn't be easy for the college to rectify the deficiencies concerned. "Many faculty members of the college would retire very soon. We already have a crisis of associate professor and professor in the college. Even if the health department decides to recruit faculty members, it would take time and the MCI might not be happy with the faculty shortage," said a senior faculty member of Patna Medical College.