3 Tamil Nadu medical colleges may get derecognised, students suffer

Subhash Selvam would not have believed that his dream of becoming a neurosurgeon could turn into a nerve-wracking ordeal. When he got admission to the newly formed Tuticorin Medical College four years ago, he thought he was a step close to the Great Indian Dream.

But months before his final year MBBS exam the medical student is staring at an uncertain future. This year the college has failed to get recognition from the Medical Coucil of India (MCI), and Selvam could end up as one who completed his five-year MBBS course but could not be a doctor.

Selvam is not alone. There are 99 other students who share his fate in his college. And there could be many more at the government colleges in Tuticorin and Kanyakumari.

The reason? While the Government went ahead with the populist measure of allotting new seats to these colleges, the MCI submitted a report to the Union Government on July 4, refusing sanction to all of them. As the Council locks horns with the state Government, the first casualty, as usual, are the students.

Selvam and his classmates are the first batch of students at the Tuticorin Medical College which began functioning in 2000. However, the MCI has refused to give recognition this year, sending panic waves down the college corridors.

What will happen to the students who appear for exams in early 2005? What about the remaining four batches of 100 each if the recognition doesn't come through?

There are 150 second-year students at the Tirunelveli Medical College while the MCI has given permission to admit only 100. The college has three more years to secure recognition for the batch. But if it fails, what will happen to the 50 additional students?

The Kanyakumari Medical College is all set to start an MBBS course this year. The state Government, happy to lend a hand, allotted 100 seats. But the MCI team, after doing three inspections in the past seven months, found the infrastructure poor and the facilities inadequate.

If the colleges fail to get the MCI's sanction in time, the students passing out will not be able to either practice medicine or go for higher studies. The MCI is quick to point to the state of these educational institutions-the pathetic condition of infrastructure and the absence of professors.