MCI nod for medical college admissions

PUDUCHERRY: After being kept on tenterhooks for long, the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (IGMCRI) can finally heave a sigh of relief. The Medical Council of India (MCI) has given the go ahead to the college, an institution under the Puducherry Government, to admit the second batch of students to the MBBS course for the academic year 2011-2012.Announcing this at a press conference, on Monday, Chief Minister N Rangasamy said a communication to this effect had been received from the MCI. The college would be able to admit the sanctioned strength of 150 students (second batch) to the MBBS course, which was started last year. The break-up of students reads thus: 105 seats for the students of UT of Puducherry, 23 seats for the government of India and 22 seats for non-resident Indians. However, the students of the Union Territory admitted into the college seem to be more privileged than the others as they would not be required to pay fees as in the previous year, as communicated by the Chief Minister. But those students admitted under the government of India quota would have to pay fees as fixed by the fee committee.However, issues bog the medical college which require focussed attention. The college has been facing difficulties every year in securing the approval of the MCI, due to inadequate faculty and infrastructure. The college had admitted the first batch in 2010-2011 surmounting several odds. After the MCI refused permission due to deficiencies, the college rectified the deficiencies and obtained an order from the High Court directing the MCI for a reinspection.Following a reinspection, the approval was granted. Similarly, in the current year also, the MCI disapproved citing deficiencies, but following rectification of the same and after a second inspection, the approval was granted.The administration needs to ensure that such a situation does not arise for admission of the third batch of students in the next academic year, by allocating adequate funds for putting the necessary infrastructure in place and filling up the faculty positions. The administration needs to think in terms of long term solutions by appointing regular faculty in place of those serving on contract basis. Getting faculty has not been easy as the salary structure in self-financing colleges is stated to be higher than that of the government medical college. IGMCRI has a salary structure on par with JIPMER. The engineering cell as well as contractors need to be proactive in completion of the works assigned to them.Though getting funds for the college has been a major constraint, a good amount of funds could be mobilised through the NRI quota. In the previous year, the admission to NRI and NRI-sponsored quota seats did not pick up, with only two seats out of 22 seats having been filled. The reason being that the permission to admit students came late and the high fee of Rs 75 lakh per seat was also a deterrent. The government should think in terms of making the fee competitive, so as to attract more students. “The government will take all steps to appoint the required faculty and ensure that there is proper infrastructure,” said Rangasamy.