The Medical Council of India (MCI) has warned of stringent action against the medical colleges for showing fake teaching faculty to attain approval for additional seats in medical college across the country.

According to sources, it has come to the notice of MCI that since past few years a majority of medical colleges across the country are appointing fake teaching faculty just before the MCI’s inspections and once the colleges get approvals, there is no sign of these faculty present in the college.

“During the past few years there have been growing complaints against the medical colleges of appointing fake faculty and showing them during MCI inspections. We will take this issue very seriously and even initiate police action against the illegal practice followed by the medical colleges. This kind of practice will dealt a blow on the quality of medical education in the country,” opined a source in the MCI.

Of late, as the MCI has increased its inspections against the private medical colleges, the managements of these medical colleges are resorting to various illegal tactics to show fake faculty by temporarily appointing the doctors only for MCI inspections. During the past few years, this practice has become rampant in medical colleges which are becoming a serious concern in the medical education system. “This kind of practice by medical colleges is unethical, and the managements are resorting to these illegal practices to save money and giving no consent to norms will backfire in the long run,” said a member of Junior Doctors Associations (JUDA).

In a bid to control and stop such illegal and unethical practices by the medical colleges, the MCI has recently issued a warning to the college managements. If the documents of the teachers or the doctors are fake; they will be liable to punishment. Dummy doctors and dummy patients too will not be spared and the MCI can register police complaint against colleges for indulging in such unethical practice.

A source from MCI revealed that there have been instances noticed by the council of non-medical people posing as teachers and doctors in some of the colleges during inspections. Such colleges were issued warnings in the past. However, this time the council is contemplating to take strict action and thinking of initiating police action against the fake faculty and the college managements.

Even in some of the government colleges, the doctors are transferred from one college to other and from one hospital to the other to show the faculty strength in the government medical colleges. After the inspections, the head of the department or professors go back to their original colleges. “We see the senior faculty only during inspections, after the inspections are over there is no one seen in the college. Medical PG students are seen teaching anatomy, gastroenterology and general medicine subjects. For most subjects we are heavily depending on recorded videos,” informed a medical student of a government medical college.