The Rajiv Gandhi Medical College at Kalwa, Thane has approached the Medical Council of India (MCI), to seek affiliation to carry out its various Post Graduate courses. Currently, the Post Graduate courses being carried out at the college are said to be recognized by the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS), while only the under graduate courses being offered are said to be MCI recognized.

According to Dr Ghanekar, Dean of the college, the papers have already been assessed by the Government of Maharashtra and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and is currently being reviewed by the MCI. According to her, while only the under graduate courses are MCI-recognized very soon we would be getting the post graduate courses credited as well. "Getting MCI recognition to carry out the various PG courses will only help in improving the quality of education and our outreach services", says Dr Ghanekar.

But getting the courses recognized is not an easy job, as the college would require an earnest of Rs 5 lakh per department to upgrade itself as per the MCI norms. And for a total of 20 departments that exist in the college it would mean a surplus of Rs. 1 crore, which is quite huge an amount.

Dr. Ghanekar has already submitted the tenders to the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) seeking aid for the funds. A proposal to this effect is yet to be sanctioned from the office of the TMC and is likely to be done in a month or two.

Once after the post graduate courses are MCI-credited the college plans to start super specialty courses that would be MCI-recognized too. But the later would take time and efforts from the management, which is currently toying with the idea of setting up a new super specialty hospital.