MBBS students at NEIGRIHMS strike in Shillong

Students at the super-speciality North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) here have
sat on an indefinite strike after they learnt that their graduate course was yet to be recognised by the Medical Council of India (MCI).

The 200-odd students, gheraod the director's office yesterday and sought a clarification on the issue besides demanding adequate faculty.
   

Concerned over the future of their career, almost all the MBBS students are observing an indefinite strike within the institute since Monday to air their concern, one of the
agitating students said refusing to be named.

Officials at the NEIGRIHMS, run by the Union Health Ministry, said the institute was allowed within the MCI rules to run the MBBS course.

"The MCI officials are due to conduct a site
inspection in 2012 to asses the infrastructure and facilities in NEIGRIHMS before it accord the MBBS course the due MCI recognition," the official said.

The Medical Council of India (MCI) is a statutory body with the responsibility of establishing and maintaining high standards of medical education and recognition of medical qualifications in India.
   

A NEIGRIHMS spokesperson also admitted that the institute is short of faculty.

"While the sanctioned posts of faculty is 138, the MBBS course is being managed by a meagre 37 teachers," he said and claimed that the process of recruitment of the faculty
cannot be initiated as the matter is pending in the court.

NEIGRIHMS director M E Yeolekar refused to meet either the agitating students or the media.
   

Designed on the lines of AIIMS, New Delhi, and PGIMER, Chandigarh, NEIGRIHMS has been the first and the only post-graduate medical institute in the North Eastern region and the third in the country established by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The first batch for the MBBS course was taken in 2009. Over Rs 550 crore has been spent in setting up the institute so far.