Tamil Nadu: 74 PG seats at Rajah Muthiah Medical College hang, sans MCI recognition

Chennai: 74 PG seats of Rajah Muthiah Medical College affiliated to Annamalai University are yet to be recognized by the Medical Council of India. This has indeed caused a set back to the Tamil Nadu Government's attempt to increase the number of Post graduate programs of medicine in the state.

The Medical Council of India(MCI) de-recognized PG program of 6 departments including gynecology, orthopedics, paediatrics, obstetrics of the college in June 2016. The reason for de-recognition were cited to be poor infrastructure and footfall of patients, appointment discrepancies and promotion of faculty. Admissions to PG courses for the new academic year have also been disallowed till such time that the MCI grants approval for them.

Faculty and students still complain about the problem stricken campus despite the reins having been transferred in the hands of the state government in 2013.

" Although the government took charge of the university , it still functions as a self-financed institute," said a Medical College PG student. Speaking to TOI, he claimed that the number of out-patients to have gone below 50% adding that the faculty rarely took classes and the infrastructure discrepancies did not live up to the norms of the MCI.

The MCI has also withheld the permission granted earlier to the Department of Anesthesiology, finding its equipment "old and inadequate". The apex body has also de-recognized PG programs run by the departments of radio diagnosis, paediatrics and orthopaedics, due to shortcomings in faculty appointments and their promotions.The education regulator also pointed at lack if research publications. It gave the example of the anesthesiology department which it believed hadn't published a single paper in three years.

The meeting also recurrently discussed bringing the college, with approximately 750 MBBS students, presently, under Tamil Nadu Dr M G R Medical University ."At least then, the government will share it resources, including faculty and infrastructure, with the college," said B Kamaraj, a parent of a 3^rd year student of MBBS student at Rajah Muthiah College.

The university charges Rs. 5.45lakh per year as tuition fee for MBBS, while the fee in government medical college is Rs.15,600. " And the infrastructure is far inferior. This is the price students who get admission on merit pay ," said Kamaraj.

The State Department's Health and Family Welfare official claimed that a discussion has been on for long to bring the college under the Directorate, Medical Education. "But there are too many legal and financial issues to be addressed before we make a move," he told the TOI.