80% of medical colleges not meeting minimum standards of regulator

• Follow

Doctors are usually considered God by patients. That is why it is also considered the most respected profession. Medical college makes a common student a doctor, serving first as an intern, then a junior doctor and then a senior doctor, serves the world by becoming a specialist.

These medical colleges, present in almost every district of the country, are the backbone of India’s health system with a medical college being the biggest hospital of a city, with specialist health facilities and a complete panel of doctors. But this system seems to be in a bad shape.

Yes, government and private medical colleges, an important link in India’s health system are in a dilapidated condition and are seriously ill. According to a recent statistic, about 80% of the Indian medical colleges of the country do not meet even the minimum standards set by the medical education regulator. The latest inspection by the officials of the National Medical Commission has revealed that in most of the medical colleges, there is no faculty. Apart from this, the team also raised questions on inadequate and poor infrastructure. Many medical colleges do not have adequate equipment, machines and medical staff. Apart from ragging, which has become a problem in medical colleges, the lack of hostels is also a testimony to the poor system here. Serious complaints have also been received from the students during the inspection, including ragging, no weekly off and little or no scholarships. Apart from this, the mental health of the students has also emerged as a serious issue here.

Whether it is government or private, the condition of all is the same. The condition of almost 80% of the medical colleges is bad.

However, now the government is preparing to take action against these medical colleges. NMC has imposed a fine of up to Rs 1 crore on the medical colleges found not up to the mark in the inspection. NMC has issued a last warning to the medical colleges and said that if these colleges do not improve on these parameters then the regulator will take action against these colleges, including reduction in the number of seats. At present, this survey has been done of graduate colleges. In future, post graduate institutes like AIIMS and PGI will also be investigated.

According to the latest data, there are about 700 NMC-approved government and private medical colleges in the country, offering courses like MBBS, MD-MS and Diploma at UG and PG level. Many times, what the colleges declare on paper was not found on the ground. Complaints were coming in regarding this for the past several weeks. The government believes that imposing a fine on medical colleges will make the management more efficient.

Along with strict action on medical colleges, last year, NMC also passed a law for the maintenance of minimum standards under which the medical college itself will have to tell what facilities it is offering and the current status of teachers.