The state of mess at National Medical Commission

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: India's apex medical education regulator has sought government intervention to resolve an internal crisis with its four autonomous boards working at cross-purposes, two people aware of the development said. The National Medical Commission (NMC) has had to cancel several public notices following poor internal consultations, and has flagged the matter to the Union health ministry.

NMC has four boards under it: the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) and Medical Assessment Rating Board (MARB). “While reviewing applications of the medical colleges to the health ministry in July and August, it came to our notice that many such applications have seen conflicting decisions within boards," the first person said on the condition of anonymity. The disarray comes in the wake of an outcry over leaked question papers in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) that selects candidates for various undergraduate medical courses.

NMC, which replaced the erstwhile Medical Council of India, administers NEET, taken by more than 2.3 million candidates this year. According to a person aware of the matter, while UGMEB imposed penalties on one college, PGMEB allowed the same institution to increase the number of seats. In another case, MARB allowed a college to increase the number of PG seats, only for PGMEB to reduce them.

Mint could not identify the institutions involved. The NMC has taken the matter to the health ministry several times, including as recently as August, the people cited above said. Also read | NMC to scrap physical counselling so students can't give donations to colleges