No more number game at medical colleges

MCI to prepare database of medical, dental college teachers to stop fudging of faculty figures to evade derecognition, get more seats


By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Monday, December 28, 2009  (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20091228200912280258113084661ace5

In a bid to stop fudging of faculty figures at medical and dental colleges facing derecognition and dramatic transfer of teachers from one institution to another before inspections, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has decided to introduce an online monitoring system.

The regulatory body will prepare a detailed database of the faculty members associated with 284 medical colleges and 282 dental colleges in India and post it online. It will include names of the teachers, their employment details and the institutes they are associated with.

These data will help MCI cross-check the veracity of the list of faculty members tabled before it by a medical institution during inspection by a click of a mouse. It will also abolish the practice of working with different medical colleges as part-timers.

“Once the database is ready, each faculty member will be issued a biometric smart card. They will have to swipe it to mark their attendance. They will have to keep MCI posted if they are relocated. Else, they will be considered to be associated with their earlier institution,” said a source in MCI.

MCI, with Dental Association of India, has invited tenders from software companies/system integrators for the faculty identification, tracking and monitoring system. Besides issuing the biometric cards and preparing the database of the faculty members, the company awarded the bid will have to install controller and biometric card readers at all the medical and dental colleges across the country.

Skeletal-staffed medical colleges often fudge their list of faculty members to avoid derecognition. Even state governments allegedly resort to dramatic transfer of medical teachers before MCI inspections.

Kesarsal Medical College and Research Institute in Ahmedabad, CU Shah Medical College in Surendranagar and a dental college in Vadodara had tried to fox MCI by including names of teachers of other institutions in their list of faculty members.

This October, the Uttar Pradesh government allegedly transferred several faculty members of Kanpur Medical College to the proposed Kannauj Medical College before MCI inspection for its affiliation. Similar steps were initiated to avoid derecognition of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi and Pataliputra Medical College and Hospital in Dhanbad.

REALITY CHECK

Medical or dental colleges give MCI fake lists of faculty members for various reasons :
♦ The number of seats hinges on the number of teachers
♦ To get affiliation
♦ To avoid derecognition

MCI steps
♦ Biometric cards to each faculty member
♦ Detailed online database of all the faculty members, including their employment details and names of institutes they are associated with
♦ These data will help MCI cross-check the veracity of the list of faculty members tabled before it by a medical college