The new Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India (MCI), which replaced the earlier corruption-ridden Council led by Dr Ketan Desai, will reopen the 87 recommendations made by the erstwhile Council regarding renewal of permission, setting up of new colleges and recognition of the institutions.

The new Board of Governors headed by eminent scientist Dr S K Sarin has extended the date for consideration of giving the letter of permission for new colleges and renewal of permission for colleges already approved under Section 10 A of MCI Act of 1956, from June 15 to July 15, 2010. The Board of Governors has been evaluating 87 recommendations made by the erstwhile Council regarding renewal of permission/setting up of new colleges/recognition of the institutions.

The new board after assuming the office had recently written to the Union Health Ministry asking permission to extend the date. In their letter written to the health ministry, the Board of Governors mentioned that they have taken over the function only on May 24 and did not have sufficient time for evaluating the proposals received from the Council through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the academic year 2010-11 in respect of undergraduate courses.

Appreciating the concern expressed by the Board of Governors, the ministry agreed to the proposal made by the Board of Governors and extended the date for grant of permission for undergraduate courses for the academic session 2010-11 with regard to pending cases under section 10-A of MCI act 1956. It has been clearly mentioned that this extension is applicable only for the academic session 2010-11 as an exceptional case.

Meanwhile, the ministry has clarified to the Board that as far as postgraduate courses in the Broad-Speciality are concerned, the last date for grant of permission for the academic year 2010-11 already ended on March 31, 2010 and no further extension is possible. However, As far as postgraduate medical courses in super-speciality are concerned, the last date for grant of permission continues to be July 15 for the academic year 2010-11 as per existing regulations.

There are 87 proposals for granting permission to various medical colleges all over the country for the academic year 2010-11 and the same are currently under evaluation by the Board of Governors.

The government had constituted a new six-member governing body after dissolving the previous council led by Dr Ketan Desai on charges of corruption. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had recently arrested the then MCI president Dr Ketan Desai and two others for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore to grant recognition to a medical college in Punjab.

Professor Ranjit Roy Choudhury, Dr Sita Naik, Dr RN Salhan, Dr Devi Prasad Shetty and professor Gautam Sen are the other members of the body.