NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Accepting in principle that a medical college can be a profit-making enterprise, the Health Ministry has started the process to remove a clause in eligibility rules which states that permission to companies to set up medical colleges would be withdrawn if there is “commercialisation”.

Four years after an amendment was made to the rules to establish medical colleges, paving the way for companies to get involved through PPP mode, not a single company — mainly hospital chains across the country, some of them with thousands of beds — has shown interest, fearing that permission would be withdrawn if its accounts show any profit.

So, while a lot of these chains run recognised super-speciality courses, they do not have the recognition of a medical college. The Health Ministry has now written to the Medical Council of India to substitute Sub Clause (6) of the eligibility criteria to remove the reference to “commercialisation”.