Govt overrules SC panel, bans 32 medical colleges

The Union health ministry has banned 32 private medical colleges from admitting students for two years, overruling a Supreme Court panel that had cleared their allegedly substandard facilities.

The ministry also forfeited the colleges’ security deposit of Rs 2 crore each. It has, however, allowed 4,000 undergrad students to continue studying at these institutes.

“We based our decision on the inspection report which highlighted gross deficiency of facilities. But the decision will not impact students already studying,” Arun Singhal, joint secretary, health and family welfare, told Hindustan Times.

Singhal did not explain why the government allowed the colleges that it found “unfit” to continue.

Over the years, undergrad medical studies in India have been mired in controversy, and a mushrooming of private colleges to meet growing demand has led to widespread corruption and a fall in the quality of medical education in the country.

In May 2016, the Supreme Court appointed a three-member Oversight Committee (OC), headed by former chief justice ML Lodha, to check alleged corruption at the Medical Council of India, which regulates such studies, and suggest ways to improve standards.

By the time the court panel was constituted, the MCI had completed inspecting 109 new colleges that had applied to admit medical students in 2016.

The MCI allowed only 17 colleges.