Shimla: A day after approving amendment to HP Private Medical Educational Institution Act making it mandatory for private medical colleges to get affiliation from HPU, the state government on Thursday said that an ordinance would be promulgated to make the amendment effective.
State's Health Minister Kaul Singh said, "We are sending the ordinance to Governor to amend sub-section 6 of section 3 of the (Regulation of Admission and fixation of Fee) Act by inserting a new clause 6(a)."
"The clause states that 'in order to ensure common standards for maintaining the excellence of medical education in the state, only the Himachal Pradesh University shall have the exclusive right to affiliate private medical colleges set up in the state," he stated.
The amendment had to be brought in view of the bitter affiliation experience with Maharshi Markendeshwar Medical College (MMMC) in Kumarhatti (Solan) which was given essentiality certificate (EC) with precondition that the college would be affiliated to HPU, but later it was being made a constituent of Maharshi Markendeshwar University (MMU), he said.
Singh said that the government has also written to Medical Council of India (MCI) and Union Health Ministry to remove Surinder Ahluwalia as nominee of state government in MCI with immediate effect.
Ahluwalia was principal of MMMC when the government recommended his name as nominee in MCI and since then he is continuing as a member of MCI for the past 20 months.
Last week, the government had issued a notification to make admissions to two government medical colleges and the lone Private Medical College (MMMCH) on the basis of merit of AIPMT for both state and management quota seats through centralised councilling under the chairmanship of Director of Medical Education.
However, the principal of MMMCH had expressed his inability to attend the meeting of prospectus review committee, maintaining that the matter was pending in the High Court and local Court in Solan.
There was no provision in MM University (Establishment and Regulation) Act 2010 under which the University was established, to affiliate any college. But MMMC got approval of MCI to admit 150 students in first batch of MBBS by showing it as constituent college of MMU.
In spite of prolonged correspondence and several letters written by the government to MMMC, the affiliation issue was not resolved and the government has now decided to amend the Act.
