NMC seeks ban on admissions to CPS Mumbai’s PG courses

NMC issues show cause notice to CPS Mumbai for not following regulations, seeks ban on admissions to postgraduate medical courses.

The National Medical Council (NMC) has informed the health ministry that one of its autonomous boards has issued a show cause notice to the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Mumbai (CPS) for not following its regulatory provisions. The statutory body that regulates medical education and institutes in India has also sought banning admissions to postgraduate medical courses run by CPS Mumbai.

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CPS is an autonomous body that offers postgraduate diploma and fellowship courses through affiliated government and private medical institutes. CPS courses provide medical students another route to post-graduate studies besides MD/MS courses.

In a letter written to the secretary of health ministry on July 5, the director of the NMC’s Post-Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), Aujender Singh, stated that neither CPS nor any institutes and hospitals offering its courses have renewed them at regular intervals as per the Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000, and the Maintenance of Minimum Standard of Medical Education Regulation, 2023.

The letter mentions that the data of medical institutes offering such courses must be available with the NMC and uploaded online. At present, the NMC doesn’t have any information about the institutes/hospitals where the CPS courses are being offered. “Without this, the state medical council will not be able to register the qualification of such students,” it said.

NMC had recommended that medical institutes running such courses should get them registered at least under the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBE), an autonomous body under the health ministry, “for ensuring quality medical education at affordable cost,” the letter said.

CPS had informed NMC that it is an examination body like the NBE whose medical qualifications are recognised. “This is a misguiding statement,” the letter said, as NBE is a government organisation included in the Schedule of NMC Act, 2019, while CPS is a non-government organisation and “has no authority to permit or recognise any course or qualification run by any hospital”.

The letter also said that the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) had inspected 120 institutes/hospitals offering CPS courses, on the directions of the state government. It found that two hospitals were closed, while 74 institutes refused inspection. “Of the 44 institutes/hospitals inspected, severe deficiencies were found in most… and it was concluded that admitting students to such institutes would be detrimental to the career of the students…” the letter said.

Dinesh Waghmare, principal secretary of the state’s medical education department, did not want to comment on the case as the matter was sub-judice. Dr Naresh Alreja, deputy registrar of CPS Mumbai, said, “The Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, the Gazette of India dated 22 January 2018, and a letter from the health ministry to all states dated 24 May 2021, affirm that CPS courses are recognised by the government of India and are included in the Schedule of the NMC Act. Therefore, any denial of recognition is an injustice to CPS and its students.”

The letter from the health ministry also specifies that while some courses may not be recognised under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, they are acknowledged under the state Act, Alreja said, adding that counselling for admission to CPS courses commences after the completion of counselling for MD/MS/diploma courses.

Alreja also claimed that the MMC’s inspection reports have been overwhelmingly positive, contrary to what was mentioned in the NMC’s letter, “which appears to be written to misguide”. Only a few institutions were inspected, and a majority of the inspection reports were positive, he said. “These documents and events clearly demonstrate that suggesting a denial of CPS admissions, even though they are included in the Schedule of the NMC Act, is unjustified,” Alreja said.

In July 2023, the Maharashtra government had derecognised all 26 courses offered by CPS in the state after several controversies related to lack of transparency, inadequate supervision, candidate quality, and corruption in the examination process. In March 2024, the state medical education department allowed 10 courses to resume after a newly appointed CPS committee held a meeting with the medical education secretary.