The Medical Council of India (MCI) has once again expressed its dissatisfaction over "improvements" claimed by Patliputra Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Dhanbad, and MGM Medical College and Hospital, Jamshedpur, vis-à-vis seat boost.
In September this year, the apex council had allowed provisional admissions to 100 MBBS seats in each of the two colleges, which it had slashed to 50 earlier in May. However, a letter from MCI received by the two cradles this week mentions that inspections conducted in November were far from satisfactory. It is though not immediately clear whether the council will crack the seat whip again.
Sources in the state health department said the MCI letter underscored faculty crunch as a major setback. "Absence of radio diagnostic equipment such as CT Scan and MRI, and no lecture hall were some of the other shortcomings pointed out at PMCH. But, faculty crunch is a problem at both hospitals," a senior health official said.
Ram Kumar Sinha, deputy secretary (health), conceded that the MCI was discontented. "The letter is a surprise though because many improvements have been made at both colleges. We have already given orders for procurement of equipment. We are also in the process of filling up vacant posts," he claimed.
Asked what the health department would do now, Sinha said, "Since we are in the process of bettering facilities at the colleges based on objections raised earlier, we categorically need to understand what the fresh letter is trying to convey. We will urge the MCI to write to us about what exactly has made it unhappy."
In July 2014, the Union health ministry had slashed 160 MBBS seats (60 from RIMS, Ranchi, and 50 each from PMCH and MGM) bringing down the 350 seats to 190 in the state following recommendations of the MCI. Students who had cleared medical entrances, like the All India Pre Medical Tests conducted by CBSE, then moved Jharkhand High Court.
The high court ordered admission to all the 350 seats and directed the health department to improve infrastructure at the colleges in a time-bound manner.
In May, the MCI approved 150 seats for RIMS, but slashed 50 each at PMCH and MGM on the grounds of various shortcomings. Admission to increased seats (100 each) was permitted only after the health department signed an undertaking to improve facilities within a month.
Sources in the department pointed out that improvement within a month for "construction and procurement" could not be fulfilled because both were time-taking activities.
