SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad Oct 22: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) result is expected to be announced soon. But the permission of the National Medical Commission (NMC) for taking admission to two new medical colleges of Jharkhand seems to be hanging in balance for the second consecutive year.
The NMC granted permission to Phulo Jhano Medical College Hospital, Dumka on September 30 to take admission on 100 MBBS seats in the current academic session 2021-22. But Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College Hospital, Hazaribagh, and Medini Rai Medical College Hospital, Palamu are yet to get a notification in this regard.
In 2020, NMC had banned admission in these three medical colleges of Jharkhand on the basis of infrastructure, doctors and teachers’ deficiencies.
Hazaribagh Medical College’s Principal Dr SK Singh said that the institution has fulfilled the infrastructure pointed out by NMC. “After the NMC granted permission to Dumka Medical College, we too were expecting a notification but now it seems like something is wrong,” said Dr SK Singh on Friday morning.
Palamu medical college is yet to get the NMC nod. “We are waiting for the letter from NMC. Since the NEET result is soon to be announced, delay in permission would complicate the admission process,” said Dr Shailendra Kumar, Principal of Palamu Medical College.
Senior officials of the State Health Department Medical Education Wing are also surprised over the delay in NMC permission to Hazaribagh and Palamu medical colleges. “The Medical Assessment and Rating Board of NMC had given highest numbers to Hazaribagh Medical College followed by Palamu and then Dumka. But it is strange that Dumka has been given the permission to take admission while Hazaribagh and Palamu have been put on hold,” said a senior official.
An official of the Health Department said that the government is serious about plugging the teachers’ deficiencies in all three institutions. The interview was called for the appointment of 169 senior teachers on a contract basis but only 43 faculty members turned up for the vacancy.
All the three medical colleges were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 with 100 MBBS seats each. But owing to infrastructure and teachers’ deficiencies, NMC banned admission in these medical colleges in 2020.
