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Bengal

MCI to recommend debarring of Laxman Seth's ICARE Institute of Medical Sciences & Research

Kolkata: The Medical Council of India has decided to recommend the Centre to derecognise ICARE Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Haldia for its failure to fulfill the pre-requisite criteria laid down by the highest regulating body repeatedly.
The private medical college run by an NGO associated with former suspended CPI(M) MP Laxman Seth, who later joined the BJP, is in real trouble following the decision. However, the MCI has issued an ultimatum to the medical college authorities asking them to put in place a minimum infrastructure for running a medical college. The experts feel that it would be difficult for the college authorities to put in place adequate infrastructure within such a short period of time as they had failed to fulfill the criteria for the past seven years. ICARE Institute of Medical Sciences and Research started the MBBS course in the academic year 2011-12. In those years, the college authorities failed to set up adequate infrastructure despite repeated notices by the MCI. There were around 100 MBBS seats in the college of which 34 were filled up on the basis of recommendations of the state government. It may be mentioned here that the MCI cancelled the admission of candidates to the MBBS course last academic year in 2017-18 due to infrastructure lapses. In the current academic year of 2018-19, the college authorities will not only be able to run the MBBS course but are also facing a permanent debarment. If this medical college is derecognised by the Centre, students who are in their mid-course would be affected the most as there would be a question mark on their future. They will not even get a registration. Around 100 students who took admission in the first batch have already completed their internships but are yet to get their registrations while 500 other medical aspirants who are in the middle of their courses will face a similar fate.
It was decided at the Executive Meeting of the MCI held recently in Delhi that it would recommend the Centre for not approving the institution. Every private medical college needs to take permanent registration from the MCI after completion of five years of its existence. Within this period, the college authorities have to take permission from the MCI each year to fill up these seats. As the MCI pointed out the lapses, there is a deficiency of faculty worth 22.09 percent and a shortage of residents worth 53.20 percent. Bed occupancy at 10 am on the day of assessment was 44 percent, data of clinical material like OPD attendance, Radiological and Laboratory investigations were inflated. List of the nursing staff with registration numbers of Nursing Council and Appointment Letter were not provided despite repeated requests. In the OPD, teaching area was not available, demonstration rooms were shared across several wards and no ward had a pantry. Biomedical waste norms were also not followed. No operation was performed till 11 am on the day of inspection and no OT lists were available. No CMO was posted which is one of the major lapses. No doctor knew how to operate the ventilator. PNDT Registration of USG machines was in the name of one Dr Kanungo who was no longer a faculty.
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