MCI asks medical colleges to put up online students' feedback

After a terse letter to the Union Health Ministry by the Supreme Court-mandated Oversight Committee, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has issued directions to all medical colleges to update their websites which should include students' feedback on faculty.
MCI wrote a letter recently to all medical colleges, asking them to update their websites in the first week of every month which should also include data of every undergraduate incorporating their score in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and fees charged by the college.
The student information, including their attendance and performance, should be updated as and when the student moves to another semester.

"As part of a 360 degree evaluation, students' feedback, as regards regularity in teaching, practical demonstration, hands-on-training, infrastructure facilities should be included," the MCI letter said, quoting directions from the Oversight Committee mandated by the Supreme Court to oversee functioning of MCI.
The Supreme Court had in May appointed an Oversight Committee comprising former Chief Justice of India Justice R M Lodha, renowned liver specialist and Director of Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences Dr Shiv Sareen and former CAG Vinod Rai.
According to the order, the Oversight Committee will have the authority to oversee all statutory functions under the MCI Act.

"All policy decisions of the MCI will require approval of the Oversight Committee. The Committee will be free to issue appropriate remedial directions," the order said.

Besides this, all colleges have been asked to maintain attendance electronically which should be made available to the assessors during the time of inspection.
The website should display faculty members, along with
their designation, their attendance and monthly teaching schedule, the MCI order said.
"A maximum of 70 per cent lectures of the scheduled lectures must be taken by the respective faculty," it said.
There should be a monthly census of all clinical material and patient admissions which includes discharges, deaths, surgeries, procedures and investigations carried out in each department.

The MCI order follows a terse letter written by the Oversight Committee (OC) to the Health Ministry that it would hold it responsible if any medical colleges, having conditional approval, admits student without fulfilling the criteria.
In a letter, Secretary to the Committee P Seshkumar wrote to Union Health Ministry said it would be the responsibility entirely of the Ministry in case any of the colleges, where conditional approval was granted for 2016-17 and notifications have been issued by the Ministry, admits students without the colleges uploading the stipulated data on faculty, infrastructure.
"It may please be noted that Oversight Committee would not, in any manner, be responsible for allowing admissions of students in such cases without the Health Ministry keeping admissions in abeyance after verification as already directed by OC," he said.