PNS|Hyderabad
Health Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha convened a high-level meeting with the managements, deans and principals of private medical colleges at the Secretariat on Monday.
The meeting focused on reviewing various aspects of medical education, including quality standards, adherence to National Medical Commission (NMC) regulations, faculty deployment, student attendance, fee structures and stipend issues.
He warned them against recruiting ghost faculty and stipend complaints.
Parigi MLA Rammohan Reddy, Health Secretary Christina Z Chongthu, Kaloji Health University Vice-Chancellor Nandkumar Reddy, DME Dr Narendra Kumar and other senior officials also participated in the discussion.
Telangana-trained doctors are gaining international acclaim, leading prestigious medical institutes across the world. This is a result of the strong academic standards maintained in the State.
The Minister expressed concern over reports of private colleges employing ghost faculty (non-existent or absent faculty). He warned that such practices could severely impact the quality of medical education.
Stressing that poor standards in medical education can directly affect public health, he said the government will take stringent action against colleges that fail to comply with quality norms.
Several complaints have surfaced regarding colleges withholding stipends meant for medical students.
The Minister firmly stated that stipends must not be compromised, as it could affect students’ education and morale.
He directed that teaching hospitals affiliated to medical colleges must strictly follow the Clinical Establishment Act guidelines.
Colleges were warned against harassing students for additional or advance fee payments.
Such actions would not be tolerated.
The Minister assured college representatives that issues raised regarding NMC regulations would be brought to the Commission’s notice and efforts would be made to resolve them.
