"There Is A Sharp Decline in The Maintenance of High Standard of Medical Education:Bombay HC Pulls Up MCI [Read Judgment]

The Bombay High Court recently expressed "serious concern" about the functioning of the MCI and Central Government while granting permissions to medical colleges, voicing "fear" that the "medical students who will come out from such colleges might be half-baked medical professionals for want of full facilities of teaching and for want of exposure to the patients and their ailments during course of their studies".

The division bench urged that the Medical Council of India and the Central Government "would discharge their statutory functions with due diligence and in the public interest and for the welfare of the society", hearing the grievance of petitioner-students that by fraudulent misrepresentation they were made to believe that the respondent-college was a recognised college for PG admissions in the year 2017-18, and they were persuaded to seek admission to various specialisation courses in medicine by paying a daunting amount of fee, despite the college not having even basic infrastructure and renewal of recognition.

It was alleged that respondent college is run by a politically influential person who is the sitting Member of Legislative Assembly of the state, who has exerted his clout on all the authorities including the Medical Council of India, Directorate of Medical Education and Research and the Maharashtra University of Health sciences.

The HC reiterated what the Supreme Court of India has remarked- that citizens would lose faith in such institution if allegations are repeatedly made with regard to the inspection report and granting of approval by the Central Government. The Apex Court had left the said question for the central government to deal with appropriately "as it is the function of the authorities to plug the loopholes and see that in such matters nothing hanky-panky happens". "These observations had been made by the Supreme Court in the year 2001, however, from the present matter it can be seen that there is no change in the working of MCI or the Central Government in the matters of medical colleges", commented the HC.

"There is a sharp decline in the maintenance of high standard of medical education and yet MCI could not bring check on unregulated mushroom growth of medial colleges and maintenance of high standard of medical education", it continued to state.

The HC was of the view that unless there are proper educational facilities in the society, it would be difficult to meet with the requirements of the younger generation who have a keen desire to acquire knowledge and education to compete in the global market- A medical student requires gruelling study and that can be done only if proper facilities are available in a medical college and the hospital attached to it has to be well equipped and the teaching faculty and doctors have to be competent enough that when a medical student comes out, he is perfect in the science of treatment of human beings and is not found wanting in any way.

"The MCI and the Central Government have been vested with monitoring powers. It is expected of these authorises to discharge their functions well within the statutory confines. MCI and the Central Government must therefore show due diligence right from the day when the applications are received...MCI is a custodian of public interest and acts in trust for the welfare of the society. The purpose of inspection by expert team of assessors is to verify whether a medical college has the requisite infrastructure and facilities including faculty, residence as well as clinical and non clinical material. The basic purpose of inspection is to verify whether the college possesses the requisite infrastructure and facilities and resources to provide quality medical education consistent with the statutory requirement which hold the field", noted the bench at Aurangabad.

Click Here To Download Judgment

[Read Judgment]