Medical panels visit leaves state babus red-faced

Updated on: Saturday, April 09, 2011

The road to seek approval for new medical colleges not only seems to be laden with setbacks but also some unpleasant surprises for the state government.

Recently, the state was left red-faced when a Medical Council of India (MCI) team visited Nandurbar, the proposed site for a new medical college, only to find that even the basic infrastructure, like the college building, was not there. State government officials said that the MCI was unhappy with the progress.

According to the officials, the proposed college at Nandurbar, also the constituency of state medical education minister Dr Vijaykumar Gavit, is all but a distant dream now. Last year, the minister had announced the state’s plan to start three new medical colleges in Mumbai, Alibaug and Nandurbar.

On March 12, when an MCI team visited Nandurbar’s civil hospital, which is going to be attached to the proposed medical college, doctors were completely unprepared. The MCI team found that it lacked vital equipment.

The MCI team also called the bluff of the state officials, who tried to show that 30-odd appointments were made for the new medical college. “The MCI team found that most of the teachers were actually teaching in the medical colleges of Dhule and Pune. The dean of Ambejogai medical college was asked to present himself as the in-charge of the proposed college,” said a source.

“It would be surprising if the approval for the college comes our way,” said a senior state government official. Interestingly, it seems the medical colleges have also hit a financial hurdle, as the state is yet to release the funds. “It could easily be another six months to a year before the work on the medical colleges starts,” said the source.

“The MCI was unhappy that the teachers for the new college, though appointed, were obviously not serving full-time,” said Dr Vijay Wase, dean of Ambejogai Medical College.

Dr Pravin Shingare, joint director of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, brushed aside the concerns. “If the MCI has objections, it will also give us time to rectify them. There will be more inspections before the approval actually happens,” he said.

Medical panels visit leaves state babus red-faced

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