ICARE to be debarred for infrastructural shortcomings: MCI

Kolkata: The ICARE Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Haldia is facing the Medical Council of India(MCI), axe for not having been able to fulfill the MCI norms for recognition over a considerably long period of time. The apex medical education regulator has recommended the de-recognition of the institute to the centre due to its inability to overcome the deficiencies pointed out by the Council, over a span of years.

The NGO run private medical college, associated with BJP member Laxman Seth, a former CPI (M) MP, has received a final warning from the Council to raise a minimal infrastructure required for the running of a Medical Institution.

According to experts, the college authorities will not be able to raise an adequate infrastructure to meet the needs, as they had failed to comply in the past seven years as well.

The MBBS course was started by the ICARE institute in the academic year 2011-12. In the following years, the institute had repeatedly failed to set up an adequate infrastructure requirement, despite, getting frequent notices from the medical education regulator.

The college during its inception had approximately 100 seats of which 34 had been filled by the state government. The Council has cancelled MBBS admissions of candidates for the academic year 2017-18, at the institute, due to infrastructural deficiencies. The current academic year has unpleasant fore bordings for ICARE, as the institution will not only be disallowed from running the course, but also face a permanent debarment.

The students who are going to be the worst hit, if the centre decided to go with the MCI recommendation, will be the those who are in their midcourse, as they would be bereft of a registration. Those 100 who got admitted to the course in the first batch have already completed their internships. However, they have yet to be registered.

The Executive Committee Meeting of the MCI held recently in Delhi, decided to recommend ICARE debarment to the centre.

After five years of running medical institutions are required to take permanent registration from the Medical Council. Prior to the five years, the institution needs to take Council permission every year for the admissions it undertakes reports millennium post.

The MCI pointed lapses in the case of ICARE before it recommended debarment include: A 22.09% faculty deficiency a 53.20% shortage of residents; Bed occupancy at 10 am on the day of assessment being 44 percent; OPD attendance, Radiological and Laboratory investigations- inflated; A list of Nurses with registration numbers of the Nursing Council and appointment letters not provided, despite repeated request; teaching area in the OPD unavailable; demonstration rooms shared across several wards and none having a pantry; biomedical waste norms not followed; no operation was performed till 11 am on the day of inspection and no OT lists were available; No CMO was posted-a serious lapse; None of the doctors proficient in ventilator operations; PNDT Registration of USG machines registered in the name of a Dr Kanungo, who was no longer a faculty.