Govt prohibits 32 medical colleges from conducting admissions
What's the story
The Union health ministry prohibited 32 colleges from admitting any students for two years on account of several irregularities.
With this step, the ministry overruled a Supreme Court panel that had cleared these colleges in the first place inspite of their substandard facilities.
However, the existing 4,000 students will be allowed to continue with their studies and the parents don't have to worry.
Background
Irregularities by the MCI and OC in conducting college inspections
There is a wide difference in the number of colleges approved by the Medical Council of India verses Supreme Court appointed Oversight Committee (OC). The MCI after inspecting 109 colleges cleared 17 colleges. However, OC cleared 34 colleges instead.
A Joint panel of OC and MCI in another inspection found these colleges grossly deficient by various standards, pointing to irregularities on OC's part.
Details
Colleges resorting to malpractices to pass inspections
With the mushrooming of numerous private medical colleges, they often resort to corrupt malpractices to pass inspections.
Some of them include employing ghost faculties, fake patients, getting life saving equipment on rent from dubious vendors. In the past years, a new industry comprising of these people has been thriving and the MCI has been pretending not to take notice of it.
Background
Future of medical students hanging by a thread
With corruption thriving within medical colleges and MCI ignoring it, the ultimate sufferers are the students. They put in their heart, soul and years in achieving their dream of becoming a doctor. But at the end, the dream makes them feel victimized.
The patients suffer too. There are just 80 doctors per 1 lakh patients, which makes it a shortage of atleast 5,00,000 doctors.