Dr Ketan Desai at MCI shows the way

With a distinction of being the world’s largest trained manpower in healthcare, medical education in India has significantly improved in the qualitative terms also. The credit for this goes to a large extent to the apex body of the medical education in the country, Medical Council of India. Ever since Dr Ketan Desai has been at the helm of the MCI as its president, the Council is also working to further standardize the curriculum of medical education which is not only expected to be catering to the national needs but also cater to the global needs.

Dr Ketan Desai, President, MCI has been repeatedly taking initiatives so that the Council incorporates the global needs in the ambit. All due to the excellence in performing the role of the medical education watchdog, India today has the distinction of being the single largest producer of trained health manpower in the entire Globe. With 299 medical colleges in operation as of now with annual intake capacity of approximately 33,000 for the M.B.B.S. Courses, in terms of the number it is the largest producer of the trained health manpower when interpolated against the facts that even the United States of America, has only 152 medical schools as on date.

This is only considering allopathic medicine. When we consider Ayurved and other systems, the number gets even larger. However, the respective governments never seem to have made it a priority sector. Medical education per-se has never been construed as a priority in any of the budget making exercises of either the Central or State Governments and therefore to that extent the annual budget of the financial year 2009-2010 does not make any exception.

It needs to be borne in mind that ultimately medical education is the platform from where the trained health manpower is expected to be generated. The efficacy and efficiency of this trained health manpower therefore is directly proportional to the standardized sustenance of medical education. If the necessary requirements of medical education in the context of ‘developmental grants’ are not met with, the desired standards would not be attainable. This will result in the compromised generation of the health manpower, which is suicidal. The Medical Council of India under Dr Ketan Desai can only pave the way; the onus of excellence in the medical education ultimately falls in the power corridors.

No MCI, No UGC; Minister wants to have his way

Strange are the ways of functioning in the power corridors, so it seems. Instead of curing the disease, its symptoms are treated more often than not. When the issue of the capitation fee in medical colleges erupted in the media, suddenly the powers-to-be wanted to be seen in the media with their own wish list. Not only an ambitious blue print for reforms in the higher education mooted out, it was conveniently leaked to the media as well. The moot point here is what was the need to have a super regulator in the first place.

This attempt to remote control the academic institutions is nothing but an anti thesis of democracy, where the jurisdiction of independent bodies is being curtailed. After all, democracy is the art of decentralization of the power and not to decentralize it. If there are reports of corruption in states, should it mean that the centre should take charge of the states as well? What is the guarantee that the proposed super regulatory authority will be corruption free?

The basic tenet of democracy and the conventional wisdom suggests that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If there has not been a fool proof system in the admission procedure of medical colleges despite of so many regulatory bodies playing their role, how will the new super regulator do it without any check and balance mechanism.

Actually the whole business of getting into independent bodies is borne out of the desire to control the institutions. Not very long ago, the then Union Health Minister A Ramdoss tried his best to control the All India Institute of Medical Sciences by curtailing the wings of then AIIMS chief Dr Venugopal Rao. The move failed, thanks to the apex court intervention. And now is there another move to take control of the independent bodies, like the Medical Council of India, the University Grants Commission and the Bar Council of India. However, conventional wisdom would suggest that the centralization of power only adds to more corruption, but then probably wisdom has no place in the megalomaniac society.

Media into the hands of vested interests

The mushrooming of the medium of information and the “business of news” has quite paradoxically started defeating the very purpose for which it actually exists. The malaise is so deep rooted that the leading media houses don’t even feel shy of calling the newspapers a “product” where supplements are mostly paid ones. In fact, one of the largest media houses conveniently calls the edition as “Made in Delhi” with Resident Editors labeled as “Editor Delhi Market” and likewise. Therefore, when the very same newspaper does an expose in the name of social cause, the whole business of media seems to be sheer hypocrisy.

The expose of the Times of India on the capitation fee in the medical colleges and deemed universities is a Case Study for reasons more than one. The alacrity with which the expose was followed by a series of editorially driven news stories defied all news sense because the whole issue was merely stating the obvious, something we all know and have subconsciously accepted as a way of life. Even at the cost of being a devil’s advocate I must say that this was not something that came as a shock.

However, there is more than what meets the eyes in this case. There were very many factual anomalies in the whole reportage. It was said that the business of capitation fee is flourishing because the Medical Council of India is on largesse in granting the nod to all these medical colleges and deemed universities. It was alleged that it is the MCI which is actually encouraging the high capitation fee in these colleges and deemed universities.

As a communication professional I have been covering the sector for quite some time. To the best of my knowledge the Medical Council of India has no role in determining the fee of these colleges. Whenever a proposal to establish a medical college or deemed university is sent to the MCI, it is entitled to review it on a specified parameter only. It seems the sting operation was done in such a hurry that the reporters had no time to find out what is under the purview of the MCI and what the role of the University Grants Commission is.

Even when the UGC chairperson came on record to clarify to some other newspapers, the Times of India conveniently kept lambasting the MCI in its headlines. The satisfaction of “I did it” and “Impact of our expose” often takes us so high that we fail to see the logic and rational. The question that needs to be addressed here is that was it just the problem of perception in this case or there has been a bigger picture behind the episode.

Actually, the fact is that there is more than what meets the eyes. In the following week of the TOI expose, when the controversy started dying its own natural death, certain vested interests in whose hands the ropes of sting operation seem to have gone, started getting restless. The TOI had by then started downplaying it. It had never been earth shattering news in any way. And hence, the next round of media plant was planned.

But in their over zeal to do the things, they forgot the fact that the anonymous mail with fictitious and malicious information is never sent to all and sundry, including the competing newspapers of the TOI. Media got suspicious of the intentions of the mailer and in their cross checking of facts, it was clear that somebody was just using the media for their own vested interests.

The tonality of the media reports have since then been a bit different, though a section of them still seem to be determined not to accept that they have erred in their judgment. But their over zeal to rake up the same issue every now and then has been both perplexing and funny. The moot point here is that whether there should be any defined parameters for sting operation, or should the media be left alone to defame whosoever they wish to as per their whims and fancies.

ENDS……