Dark spots in professional education

This is with reference to the article by M. J. Antony “Dark spots in professional education” (October 18). I agree with the writer. These unprofessional, unethical and unauthorised professional colleges are pumping out professionals who will only mint money by way of unethical practices to recover the educational expenses incurred by them in obtaining those degrees. Such professionals could cause great harm to the society as a whole and the victims are the gullible patients or clients of these unprofessional lawyers. The government should thoroughly revamp these colleges and remove all the malpractices prevalent in the professional colleges and also close all the colleges that are selling fake degrees.

How can we put our lives in the hands of doctors who obtain their degrees from such colleges? Our medical system/government hospitals/medical education requires a thorough shake-up for the better. To encourage noble doctors who are doing pioneering work in the health field, the government should give wholehearted support to hospitals run for the poor and the needy--such as Narayana Hrudayalaya of Dr. Deviprasad  Shetty, Aravind Eye Hospital of Tirunelveli--which will boost the morale of other doctors who would like to emulate these noble souls. A separate body set up with pioneers in various professional fields should be authorised to conduct independent inspection of various professional colleges and submit a report to health ministry directly. The government should concentrate on constructing more medical colleges where affordable medical education can be provided to all strata of society. Affiliation of  medical colleges lacking basic infrastructure should be cancelled. The country is in need of good hospitals. Health care benefits at affordable rates and more government-run medical colleges for students aspiring to become doctors is the need of the hour. 

Veena  Shenoy Thane (West)

Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to: 

The Editor, Business Standard

Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg 

New Delhi 110 002 

Fax: (011) 23720201  ·  E-mail: letters@bsmail.in

All letters must have a postal address and telephone number