Reprieve for barred colleges

The three member committee headed by former Chief Justice of India, RM Lodha, constituted to oversee the functioning of Medical Council of India (MCI) has decided to grant amnesty to those medical colleges disapproved by the MCI this year. The committee on Tuesday decided to give additional time of 45 days for reconsideration of the cases disapproved this year. This means that the colleges disapproved this year can approach and give their representations once again to the Union Health Ministry for reconsideration. The ministry will be setting up special counters where the colleges can file their representations. While the colleges can give their fresh representations from 16th to 22nd June. The 45 extra days is for the entire process.

Sources said that the decision can benefit around 175-200 medical colleges which were disapproved this year. Normally the process of approval and disapproval closes on June 15. This is the first time that the colleges have been given extra time to make fresh representation to the government. The relief will however exclude all those medical colleges which were rejected for lack of giving satisfactory documents at the initial stage. According to sources, once the representation is made to the central government, the same will travel to MCI which, after due consideration, will send it to the central government once again. From there, it will move to the Lodha Committee.

This year the Union Health Ministry had turned down proposals for setting up of 87 new medical colleges based on recommendations of MCI.