Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

All is not well with medical colleges

By S. Vijay Kumar

MADURAI NOV. 14. With the Madras High Court issuing suo motu notice to ten pharmacy colleges, including the one attached to the Madurai Medical College, seeking an explanation on the recognition status of courses offered, more skeletons in the cupboard are likely to be exposed.

In the Pharmacy College in Madurai, the recognition granted by the Pharmacy Council of India and the All-India Council for Technical Education for its degree and postgraduate courses, lapsed in 2001. Even as admissions for the current academic year were made, college authorities sent fresh applications for renewing the recognition enquiries reveal.

Lack of recognition and inadequate infrastructure are not a problem the pharmacy colleges alone are grappling with. According to official sources, a majority of the medical colleges in the State face acute shortage of teaching and non-teaching faculty, besides basic infrastructure, including books. Some of the postgraduate courses are not recognised by the Medical Council of India.

Also, the recognition for postgraduate courses in some colleges expired several years ago and the Government would have to shell out a huge sum as penalty for renewal, senior doctors in the Madurai Medical College said adding such unrecognised degrees were not valid in other States and reputed private institutions.

Whenever an MCI team arrives for inspection of a college, teachers and para-medical staff are brought in from other institutions on deputation. The MCI officials are made to believe that they are on the permanent rolls of the college.

For instance, when the MCI inspected the Tuticorin college recently, men and material were rushed there from a handful of institutions in the surrounding districts.

The staff, including professors on deputation, were directed to ``act as employees of the Tuticorin Medical College'' by the Director of Medical Education. During the recent inspection at the Tiruchi Medical College the ``arrangement'' was no different. However, the officials are tightlipped on this ``official apathy'' since they say it is a policy matter.

Ironically, the dearth infrastructure has not deterred to the Government from starting new colleges. While the medical colleges in Kanyakumari and Vellore are still under construction, the Government proposes to set up one in Andipatti.

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