The Delhi High Court has raised concern over the lack of adequate number of medical institutions providing quality affordable education in the country. It said due to lack of colleges, thousands of students are compelled to pursue their studies abroad.
“This reality has especially become a cause for concern at a time when due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, several thousand Indian medical students, who had gone to pursue their medical education in the now war-hit Ukraine have been rescued and brought back home. They have also lost their seats in medical colleges,” Justice Rekha Palli said.
The court’s remarks came while allowing Santosh Medical College, an institute being run and managed by Santosh Trust which was formally known as Maharaji Educational Trust to increase seats in postgraduate and undergraduate courses.
The High Court permitted the college to “increase the seats from 4 to 7 in MS (Obstetrics & Gynaecology), from 3 to 7 in MS (Orthopaedics), and from 100-150 in the MBBS course”.
Quashes NMC orders
“At a time when the ratio of medical profession vis-a-vis the population of the country is abysmally low, an increase in the number of PG and UG seats would certainly contribute to the bigger goal of strengthening the medical infrastructure of the country,” the High Court said as it quashed the orders of the National Medical Commission (NMC) denying the trust’s application to increase the seats.
The trust runs and manages a group of medical, dental, paramedical, and para-dental colleges/institutions in the National Capital Region, including Santosh Medical College which is a medical educational institute, offering MBBS course and postgraduate courses.
“No doubt, the respondents [NMC] cannot be asked to lower the standards prescribed under the regulations,” the court said.
Against public interest
But added that in a situation like the present, when it is found that the institute, which has been running for the last more than 20 years is not lacking in any infrastructure and has also rectified the deficiencies which were found at the time of initial inspections, “it would also be against public interest to deny permission to the petitioner to increase the seats,” the judge said.
“In fact, the exemplary work done by the petitioner institute during this trying time of COVID-19 has been highly appreciated by one and all, including the State and the Union government, as is evident by the fact that the petitioner has received the Ayushman Award from the Central government in 2021 as well as an award from the State government in 2022 for its persistent and dedicated service in combating the COVID pandemic,” the High Court said.