Court transfers 144 private medicos to government colleges

Faults government for not informing the Centre or medical university about the cancellation of certificate to Annai Medical College and Hospital at Pennalur

The Madras High Court on Friday ordered the transfer of 144 second year MBBS students of Annai Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) at Pennalur in Sriperumbudur to 22 government medical colleges in the State. The college lost mandatory approvals required from the Centre as well as the State government because of infrastructure and manpower deficiencies.

Justice N. Kirubakaran directed the State government to forward a proposal to the Medical Council of India, within a week, seeking permission to accommodate the students. The council, in turn, was directed to forward its proposal to a Supreme Court-monitored oversight committee within a week thereafter. The panel was directed further to convey its decision to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Special classes

“The Ministry shall pass necessary orders increasing the number of seats in government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu and approve the accommodation of students studying in AMCH in the 22 government medical colleges functioning in the State. The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University shall make necessary arrangements to conduct special classes so that the lost attendance could be made good,” the judge ordered.

The judge directed the new trustees of the college to return all the certificates of the students within a week from the date of receipt of the court order. He made it clear that though the students would be accommodated in government colleges, they must give written undertaking to pay the fees fixed for private medical colleges.

During the course of arguments in the case, the government contended that the students could not be accommodated in its colleges where only meritorious candidates got admitted. The first student admitted in AMCH had secured 3,090th rank and the last student had secured only 13,830th rank. The judge said the difference between the government and private college students would vanish after their admission. “It (the ranking) is only for the purpose of admission alone. The ranking cannot be extended or brought into at the time of study. Rank is only like a passport to get into the medical college and what would matter thereafter is only their performance in the medical course. Rank is only based on their performance in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test,” the judge said and blamed the State government for the difficulties faced by the students. Mr. Justice Kirubakaran pointed out that the State government issued Essentiality Certificate to the college on September 3, 2010 and cancelled it on May 11, 2011.

However, the cancellation was not brought to the notice of the Centre or the medical university before they granted approval to the college. Had it been done, the present situation would not have arisen, the judge said.

“Sorrow, suffering, pain, distress, mental agony and uncertainty of future suffered by the petitioner students are not at their invitation. For no fault of theirs, the innocent medical students are standing before this court instead of learning in the medical college. If they are not allowed to learn, when they are supposed to learn during the course, in future, it will definitely have an adverse impact on the health service. Various stakeholders are responsible for this predicament faced by the students,” the judge added.