Cuttack, July 8: The Medical Council of India said in Orissa High Court that the SCB Medical College here "grossly failed to meet the required standards" to start the doctor in medicine (DM) course in haematology from 2015-16 academic session.

Haematology is a branch of medicine, which includes study, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases related to blood. Haematologists are specialists, who deal with diagnosis, treatment and overall management of people with blood disorders.

The SCB Medical College had applied to the Union ministry of health and the medical council to start a course in clinical haematology first for the academic session 2014-15 and then for 2015-16. The Centre had rejected the proposal, as the council did not recommend opening of the course.

A public interest litigation filed in the high court sought direction to the Union health ministry to grant permission to the SCB Medical College, so that it could start the course in clinical haematology.

Odisha Rationalist Society secretary Debendra Sutar and Odia Yuva Manch president Rohan Kumar Mohanty had filed the PIL. Acting on it, the court had issued notices, seeking response from the council and the state government.

In an affidavit filed in response to the notice, the council said: "None of the faculty members have super-specialty qualifications or certificates of special training for two years from a recognised institution."

The council team had conducted inspection of the college on February 2 and submitted an assessment report.

"The deficiencies pointed out were fundamental in nature, hence could not be brushed aside in the larger interest of the public and also the student community. Therefore, the postgraduate medical education committee of the council after considering the assessment report decided to recommend to the Centre not to grant its permission to SCB for starting DM course in clinical haematology from academic year 2015-15," the council's law officer Shikhar Ranjan stated in the affidavit.

Director of the medical education and training Prakash Chandra Mohapatra had filed an affidavit alleging that the council's objection was "devoid of merit".

In the affidavit, Mohapatra said opening of the course in clinical haematology at the SCB was necessary to deal with the problem of "acute shortage of faculties in clinical haematology discipline in the state"#, since there are not enough qualified haematologists in the state.