Madhya Pradesh: Deans posted in medical colleges ignoring NMC norms

BHOPAL / The Madhya Pradesh government has posted deans in Gwalior, Datia and Shivpuri medical colleges ignoring the norms of the National Medical Commission(NMC), which has put the students’ future in dark.
Dr Sameer Gupta, Dr Dinesh Udainia and Dr Akshay Nigam have been assigned to medical colleges in Gajra Raja Gwalior, Datia and Shivpuri respectively as part-time deans while the trio is already posted as Head at orthopaedics, Neurology and Radiotherapy departments respectively in Gajra Raja Medical College (GRMC), -the oldest medical college in the state.
Datia and Shivpuri are around 100 kilometres away from Gwalior, Nigam and Udainia are working on both the posts, as a dean as well as HoD.
As per NMC norms, nobody can be given an additional charge of dean whereas he is regularly posted at another college or another post. NMC’s Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) team had recently visited Gwalior, Datia and Shivpuri medical colleges. It is raised a big question over providing information of posting to the MARB team, what may they have been counted whether as a principal or as HoD in GRMC.
On the basis of the counting of the manpower including the dean, faculties and various kinds of staff, and the infrastructure set up, the NMC recognises the number of seats of UG and PG students in the medical colleges.
Besides, Gupta and Nigam are running their own private hospital in the names of their wives in Gwalior city while Udainia visits another private hospital. However, the NMC and the state government does not permit the doctors to do so. As per the NMC’s rules, the posting of the deans shall be regular, not ‘part-time’. In this situation, if the NMC cancels the permission, the future of the students may in the dark.
The NMC was constituted by an act of Parliament known as the national medical commission act, 2019, which came into force on September 2020, dissolving the board of governors in an impression of the medical council of India.
When asked the commissioner of medical education and divisional commissioner about the ignorance of NMC norms in the posting of deans, they have shifted bucks on each other over the issue.
“The posting of the deans and faculties in medical colleges come under the divisional commissioner of the related region, the ME department does not post them,” Nishant Warbade, the commissioner of medical education(ME) told The Sun Today.
While the commissioner of the Gwalior division Ashish Saxena who is the ex officio chairman of the autonomous committees of medical colleges said that the deans and faculties were posted by the department of ME.

Excluding Jabalpur, no regular dean is posted in all 12 government-run medical colleges in the state. These are, Indore, Bhopal, Sagar, Rewa, Shahdol, Vidisha, Khandwa and Ratlam. Whereas 2035 new intake capacity of MBBS students has been provisioned in the recent state budget.