The NMC will verify admissions of students in MBBS course and cancel the admission if it finds out that a candidate was admitted without undergoing the central and state counselling process. NMCs verification exercise is aimed at stopping illegal admissions and curbing institutional corruption to bring in transparency.
IRREGULAR ADMISSIONS
To make medical admissions transparent, the NMC through a letter in July 2023, asked authorities to make necessary arrangements for conducting the counselling (both UG and PG) in online mode, for all rounds, including stray vacancy rounds in private medical colleges, from the academic year 2023-24.
However, it noticed the prevalence of unauthorised admissions in certain colleges, circumventing the established channels of central and state counselling agencies. Students engaging in misleading practices during the admission process contribute to a corrupt system. Following verification by the NMC, seats secured through forgery and fraud will be cancelled, says a health ministry official on the condition of anonymity.
The official further highlights that private colleges supporting such unauthorised practices share responsibility if they have granted direct admissions to students , they will be booked as the seats will remain vacant after the cancellation of admissions.
Students who have followed proper channels need not worry about the repercussions of this crackdown on fraudulent admissions. The registration process on the central website serves to record the presence of aspiring students. After the declaration of results, qualifying students must register for counselling, reflecting the number of candidates seeking admission to medical colleges. However, some students opt to bypass this process and seek direct admission, leading to illegal entry. The proper procedure is to take the exam, qualify, and then register for counselling. Those resorting to shortcuts are at risk of facing con sequences, says the official.
In the past too, the medical education regulatory authorities have cancelled admissions.Reportedly, the Medical Council of India (MCI) cancelled the admission of over 500 students for not appearing in the NEET exam in 2016. Maharashtras medical education department on September 26, 2023, asked students to apply to individual private medical colleges for Round 4.The notice was ultimately withdrawn, and the admission of such students was cancelled by the NMC. Further, the NMC invalidated the admission of more than 600 students who were admitted at the institute level in undergraduate courses in 2023.
A special mop up round was held for over 1,000 seats that remained vacant after the counselling ended in 2023. The implementation of directives, as outlined by the NMC, should have been executed seamlessly for merit-based admissions in a transparent manner. The focus should be on rectifying the systemic issues and preventing a recurrence in the best interest of medical education, says Dr Aviral Mathur, president, FOR-DA and president, Resident Doctors Association, Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi. It is imperative to stop unethical practices to save the students from being exploited.
Some private medical colleges could resort to increasing tuition fees for the few remaining seats, exploiting students with lower NEET scores who are desperate for admission, says Rishiraj Sinha, all India general secretary FAIMA. Addressing the issues pertaining to counselling, Dr Ajit, director, Sharda University, says that while the government had declared that all counsel-ling would be conducted online, past precedents involved the government suggesting names for the remaining vacant seats, from which colleges would select students. However, in some cases, documents are not in proper order and implementing an additional level of checks in the admission process will bring in more transparency.
COMMON COUNSELLING
For better counselling management, the government will appoint a designated authority for common counselling in 2024.The official notification says that the Central government will decide and notify the agency and method of counselling of all undergraduate seat. No medical institute shall admit any candidate to the Graduate Medical Education course in contravention of these regulations; provided the medical institution granting admission to any student in contravention of these regulations, shall be liable to be fined Rs 1 crore or fee for the entire course duration, whichever is higher, per seat for the first time and for the second time of non compliance.
Published on - Times of India
Date - 22/01/2024
