After the National Medical Commission (NMC) issued show-cause notices to 35 of 36 government medical colleges in the state, citing various shortcomings, including inadequate faculty strength, Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Wednesday, May 14, indicated that the notices will not affect student admissions in these colleges.
Addressing reporters, the minister said 26 colleges have already sent their replies with appropriate explanation to the NMC last Friday, and three others will send their replies on Wednesday. The director of medical education and research has also issued appropriate guidelines for the remaining colleges to submit their explanations by next Friday, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
Although such notices citing certain discrepancies are issued to a few colleges every year, it raised concerns this year since almost all government medical colleges in the state had received notices.
On the alleged shortage of doctors, Subramanian said all vacancies in medical colleges were filled up as per the sanctioned strength. There were 415 vacancies, of which 328 were filled initially, and the remaining 87 were filled on Tuesday. A few months ago, 2,246 doctor vacancies were filled by the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MSRB), keeping in mind the vacancies that were going to arise, he said.
Not only those with MBBS qualification, but doctors who completed their PG were also selected in the recruitment process. The minister further said that steps are being taken to fill vacant posts of associate professors and professors, which are not entry-level posts, through promotion counselling.
Commenting on the allegations of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and BJP leader K Annamalai that the NMC sent notices due to the state government's failure to fill vacancies, Subramanian said they should verify the facts before commenting on the matter.
Blaming the opposition for creating an impression there are no doctors in hospitals, Subramanian said the NMC sending such notices is a routine affair every year. He pointed out that the commission has sent notices not only to colleges in Tamil Nadu, but to around 400 medical colleges across the country, including those in BJP-ruled states. He further said that the deficiencies pointed out were of a minor nature such as inadequate biometric attendance records and non-filling of appropriate faculty posts.
Subramanian said the NMC asked for Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance records, which led to some discrepancies. The NMC also asked for entry and exit time records of doctors, but a few doctors' associations were against the idea of using such a system. Principals of medical colleges have now been advised to make the Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance and entry and exit time records mandatory, he added.
