30 May,2011 08:08 AM IST | | Priyanka Vora
Medical Council says a firm 'No' to state's medical college plans at GT Hospital, as it detects various loopholes in the infrastructure, and violation of rules in appointment of staff
The state's Medical Education department is eating humble pie, since a delegation from the Medical Council of India (MCI) rejected its proposals for the opening of a new college at GT Hospital, citing various infrastructural inadequacies, including lack of qualified teachers. It seems that the department failed to provide even the bare necessities required for setting up a new medical college. This rejection has dashed the hopes harboured by the department authorities, who will now have to wait till the beginning of the next academic year. In fact, the MCI has snubbed all three proposals that had been made for new medical colleges in the state, including those at Nandurbar and Alibaug.
Playing musical chairs? In a bid to obtain recognition, nearly 35
doctors working as lecturers at the Grant Medical College were relieved
from duty and asked to offer their services at the GT Hospital. File Pic
Loaned
The MCI delegation was reportedly shocked during its two-day inspection at GT Hospital, held on March 30 and 31, when most of the teachers were unable to furnish their appointment letters. In fact, the letters had been 'loaned' to them from the government-run Grant Medical College, attached to JJ Hospital.u00a0 The MCI discovered various other deficiencies and inadequacies, and thus withheld approval for the planned new medical college, which would increase the state's MBBS seats by 100. The ministry had hoped to open the institution from the beginning of this year's academic session.u00a0
MiD DAY had reported in its March 22 edition ('Doctors on loan') that many of the doctors, including the dean, had been 'loaned' to the hospital from the Grant Medical College, in order to ensure that the new college at GT Hospital would obtain MCI recognition. Recognition above all In a bid to obtain recognition, nearly 35 doctors working as lecturers, associate professors and professors at the Grant Medical College were relieved from duty, and asked to offer their services at the GT Hospital, under the same designations.u00a0
The state has stipulated certain norms for medical colleges. These include approval for a Rs 100 crore sanction for each college, and a total of 52 posts ufffdfive professors, 17 associate professors, 18 lecturers and 12 senior residents. Besides the 'loaned' doctors, MCI had rapped the authorities for the lack of adequate medical infrastructure at the hospital. Though the hospital had complied with the 300-bed requirement, it could not fulfill the MCI requirement of having a campus of at least 10 acres. Also the promised 15 storey building equipped with operation theatres and hospital beds inside the GT Hospital campus could not be offered for inspection to the MCI delegation, since a matter related to the building is pending in court.u00a0
In order to fulfill the requirement for a 10-acre campus, the authorities had requested that the new college be simultaneously attached to GT Hospital and the nearby St George Hospital. The MCI however, denied permission for this kind of arrangement.
Appointment trouble
The MCI had also objected to the fact that the superintendent of the proposed hospital was merely an MBBS, when the norms require the post to be filled by a doctor with at least a post graduate degree. MiD DAY had reported in its April 9 edition ('State's plan to open new medical colleges on the rocks'), that an unqualified doctor, A P Chaudhari, had been appointed as the superintendent of the proposed college.
Grand plans
Last year, the Medical Education Minister Dr Vijay Kumar Gavit had announced that three new medical colleges would be opened in the state. He had even submitted a detailed proposal for allocation of funds over Rs 300 crore, for sanction of new posts. The proposal, however, is yet to reach the cabinet. "The authorities have failed to comply with the basic requirements necessary for starting a new college. It is a mockery of the system itself. You can 'loan' doctors to save it from de-recognition. But starting out with loaned doctors is a gross violation. Where's the hurry in starting a college, if you are yet to receive sanctions for the necessary number of posts?" said a senior MCI official.
Did you know?
The existing intake capacity of the 14 state-run medical colleges in Maharashtra is 2,061
Official speak
Dr Pravin Shingare, Director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), said, "They (MCI) have detected certain deficiencies. We will have to work on these factors, after which we will submit a fresh proposal to the MCI again, so the college can be opened in the next academic year. The MCI has objected to the appointment letters of the staff members. These letters were processed by the DMER, but the delegation wanted letters, which had been obtained from the state government. The land of the hospital, which is presently under the superintendent, should be under the dean, as per MCI norms. We will work on all these errors and ensure that we obtain permission before the next academic year."
A senior official from the ministry, said, "This was the minister's pet project, and he was keen on opening the college from this academic year. All the authorities were working hard in order to obtain MCI recognition. But unfortunately, they found loopholes in our infrastructure. We were expecting that the posts would be sanctioned in time for the inspection. But our request for more staff members did not reach the cabinet on time. We had to loan staff members in the last minute. In doing so, we inadvertently violated the MCI norms."
Medical Education Secretary, Milind Mhaiskar, said, "The loaning of teachers was a temporary arrangement. If MCI had given us the recognition, we could have created the posts. Hopefully the sanction for new posts will be obtained soon, after which we will systematically fill the posts and submit a fresh proposal to the MCI for the next academic year. They objected to the fact that the hospital is on two different premises, but we can sort this issue out."
When contacted, Dr Vijay Kumar Gavit, said, "The cabinet has not cleared the project. We had u00a0managed to obtain an 'essentiality certificate' from the former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, which we had forwarded to the MCI, after which they came for inspections. We were expecting that the proposal for new posts would be cleared before the inspection. However, the proposal is still pending with the cabinet. It is not possible for us to rectify the shortcomings within a month. In case of GT Hospital, we need to increase the ICCU facility. For Nandurbar and Alibaug Colleges, we will have to shift the properties from the medical education department to the health department."
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