Three private medical colleges have decided not to follow the direction of the Medical Council of India (MCI) to discharge 105 students admitted this academic year.
The MCI had directed Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, Sri Venkateshwara Medical College Hospital and Research Centre and Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences to discharge the students after the council found the admissions had been done in violation of the Graduate Medical Education Regulations 1997.
‘Rules followed’
The council’s directive was based on its assessment that the names of 105 students furnished by the colleges did not match with the list submitted by the Centralised Admission Committee (Centac) to the MCI.
In their replies to the MCI, the institutions have stated that there was no violation of rules and they have followed due process in admitting the students. “The students will not be discharged. We have sent a reply to the MCI and the Government of Puducherry.
The details of the reply sent to the MCI will not be revealed since it is an official communication,” said a senior staff in Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
The MCI had recommended immediate discharge of 41, 38 and 26 students admitted to Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, Sri Venkateshwara Medical College Hospital and Research Centre and PIMS respectively and submit a compliance report.
M. Dhanasekaran, chairman and managing director, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, said despite several requests to the government to provide them the list of students for counselling, it did not do so.
“Several seats were vacant even after third round of counselling. Many students did not come forward to take the seats during the counselling. In that case, as per the Supreme Court directions, the institutes can fill the vacant seats. Only those students who had applied through Centac were admitted,” he said.
The colleges had sent their reply to the MCI. “We are not going to discharge the students as they were admitted as per the procedure. We will wait for communication from the MCI and based on that further course of action will be decided,” he said.
The MCI had found irregularity in the admission of 161 students.
However, the Health department had directed the institutes to follow the MCI direction in discharging 105 students and not proceed with any action in the case of 56 students.
The department was of the view that the MCI had made an erroneous judgment in the case of 56 students admitted in Sri Venkateshwara Medical College Hospital and Research Centre.
