MCI silent on medical college inspection frauds


In the world of private medical colleges and Medical Council of India's (MCI) inspection of these colleges, doctors who are assistant professors in one inspection can become resident doctors in the next. Despite this fraud being pointed out to the MCI, no action has been taken so far.
In a letter to MCI president Dr Jayshree Mehta on November 26, 2015, Prof Raj Bahadur, vice-chancellor of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences pointed out that three declaration forms of faculty approved by the MCI assessors in Maharishi Markandeshwar Medical College and Hospital, Kumarhatti, in Solan, Himachal Pradesh were found to be faulty.
Prof Bahadur, who is a member of the ethics committee of the Punjab Medical Council, said that in a committee meeting, they found that Dr Dinesh Kumar and Dr Barinder Pal Singh who were shown as assistant professors in general medicine at the medical college during the inspection on May 12, 2014, were shown as senior residents in the inspection on January 1, 2015. Again Dr Kulwant Singh, an assistant professor in general medicine in the June 2013 inspection, became a senior resident in the 2015 inspection.
In his letter to the MCI, Prof Bahadur sought action. However, the MCI has not responded. There was no response from the MCI president to queries on why the MCI assessors had missed such a glaring discrepancy and what it intended to do to ensure that such frauds don't happen in future.
Prof Bahadur in his letter raised questions about why the MCI assessors could not verify that the same candidates in two successive inspections were at a higher or lower designation. "The upper age limit for a senior resident is 35-40 years. These three doctors were 41, 44 and 56 years old. How come this did not alert the assessors? Either the assessors don't know their job or they are dishonest. The forms are seconded by the head of the department, then by the principal and by the assessors. So every one of them had to be involved. It is a criminal offence of fraud and forging of documents," said Dr G S Grewal, PMC president.
The Maharishi Markandeshwar Medical College, which was started in 2013, was earlier in the news for its 'ghost faculty' or doctors who were shown as full-time faculty and drawing full pay but who were actually working elsewhere and were visiting the college once in a week to 10 days. In this case too, no action has been taken by the MCI yet.

Popular posts from this blog

PG Doctors of India must work not more than 48 Hr/week: SC

Image
As per the directives of the Honourable Supreme Court in its judgment dated,25.9.87, in writ petition No. 348-352 of 1985, all the State Governments, Medical Institutions and Universities are required to amend their rules and regulations to introduce a uniform residency scheme by 1993 “A uniform practice has to be evolved so that the discipline would be introduced. We accordingly allow the present arrangement to continue for a period of five yearsI.e. upto 1992 inclusive. For admission beginning from 1993 there would be only onepattern. All Universities and institutions shall take timely steps to bring about such amendments as may be necessary to bring statutes, regulations, and rules obtaining in their respective institutions in accord with this direction before the end of 1991 so that there may be no scope for raising of any dispute in regard to the matter.The uniform pattern has to be implemented for 1993. It is proper that one uniform system is brought into vogue throughout...
Read more

Sarita murder case: Details of the police version

A junior doctor was today apprehended in the Sarita Toshniwal murder case, making it the second arrest in this connection.  Dipmoni Saikia, 28, a second-year post-graduate student in the gynaecology department of Assam Medical College Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh, where Sarita was a first-year post-graduate student, was picked up for interrogation last evening. He hails from Hojgaon near Nagaon town. Sarita was found dead in the doctor’s cabin of the intensive care unit of the department by a nurse around 8am on Friday. Her body was covered with a blanket and lying on the bed inside the cabin. On the day of the murder, Dibrugarh police had arrested a ward boy of the department, Kero Mech, after he reportedly confessed to the crime. Mech hails from Siringhola village of Dibrugarh district. Dibrugarh chief judicial magistrate Kanchan Newar today remanded Dipmoni in seven days’ police custody. The case (number 370/14 under Sections 302/34/120 of the IPC) was registered o...
Read more