The Medical Council of India (MCI) has put the West Bengal health department — under chief minister Mamata Banerjee — on tenterhooks by remaining silent on renewing permission for the 100-seat increase approved for the Medical College Hospital (MCH) last year. The deadline for getting the MCI nod expires on June 30. “The state government has started lobbying with the union health ministry to get the renewal,” said a source privy to the development.

Below par infrastructure could be the reason for the MCI silence, the source added.

The Trinamool Congress government has a presence in the union health ministry. Party MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay is the union MoS for health.

The MCI, which regulates medical education in India, renews permission for seat increase for the first five years after giving approval.

The MCH — Asia’s oldest medical college — had added 100 seats in the under graduate course during the 2011-12 academic session.

Prof Susanta Banerjee, director of medical education, said on Sunday, “An MCI team scheduled to assess the infrastructure at the MCH for additional students on Saturday did not turn up.”