Central body visits GMC to decide on increasing seats

MCI had approved increasing seats from 150 to 200 in the 2019-20 academic session; but the decision to make this permanent will be taken after this survey

The Medical Council of India (MCI) on Tuesday inspected the Government Medical College (GMC) in Patiala to take decision on increasing the number of seats in MBBS course from 150 to 200.

The Medical Council of India delegation during inspection at Government Medical College in Patiala on Tuesday (HT Photo)

The MCI had earlier pointed out the shortage of staff and infrastructure in the college and warned the state government that it will decrease the number of seats if they fail to address the issue.

Later, they had given approval to continue the academic session of 2019-20 with 200 MBBS seats. However, the final decision of the MCI about permanently increasing the number of MBBS seats from 150 to 200 depends on this inspection.

Dr Utpal Dan, principal of DH Medical College in West Bengal; Dr Ganesh Govekar, professor of forensic medicine at Government Medical College in Surat; Dr Abhimanyu Basu, professor of surgery at IPGMER and SSKM Hospital in Kolkata; and Dr NN Mathur, principal of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi were part of the MCI team. During the inspection, the team visited different departments of the college.

“The government has already hired faculty for GMC, Patiala. Some of the professors have already joined the college and a few others have taken extension to join the college. The remaining vacant seats will also be filed once all professors join,” the principal said.

“Beside this, other shortcomings in infrastructure have also been covered. The MCI has inspected the college to check whether the issues that they had earlier pointed out are resolved. The final decision of permanently increasing MBBS seats depends on this inspection,” he added.