: The Medical Council of India (MCI) has restrained the Government Medical College in Palakkad from admitting students to the second batch of the MBBS course citing shortage of qualified teachers.
The medical college, promoted by the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes Department, started functioning last year. The first batch comprised 100 students.
The MCI directive has come at a time when the college authorities have already initiated the process to admit the second batch of students by claiming to have adequate infrastructure and better facilities for practical classes.
The college, located at Yakkara on the outskirts of Palakkad, has better infrastructure compared to many recently started colleges.
The State government has also made available facilities at the Government General Hospital in Palakkad for the practical sessions of the medical college.
However, there is shortage of qualified doctors..
An expert team of the MCI that had visited the college last year had warned the authorities concerned against their lackadaisical attitude towards recruiting teachers.
The MCI has restrained the college from giving admission to the second batch of students on grounds that lack of teachers would erode the quality of the medical education.
Earlier, about 25 qualified doctors at the district hospital here had expressed their willingness to join the new medical college as assistant professors. But, the college authorities rejected their candidature saying they could be recruited only as senior resident doctors.
During the MCI inspection, the authorities had hurriedly recruited two doctors from the General Hospital as assistant professors. However, the association of doctors took exception to this move and the doctors concerned have not accepted the offer. Doctors at the General Hospital say they can join the medical college immediately if the government issued a proper order.
Most of the newly started medical colleges in the State are now struggling hard to get qualified teachers.
