Govt Restores 30 per cent Faculty Quota for MSc/PhD Holders in Medical Colleges
National Medical Commission
(NMC) has reinstated the 30 per cent appointment quota for
non-medical faculty
— MSc/PhD degree holders — in non-clinical departments such as Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Pharmacology.
In its latest gazette notification, the country's apex regulatory body for medical education stated, 'In the departments of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Pharmacology, non-medical teachers may be appointed to the extent of 30 per cent of the total number of posts in the department, subject to the non-availability of medical teachers.'
This marks a reversal of the earlier move under the 2020
Minimum Standard Requirements
(MSR) guidelines, where the ceiling for non-medical faculty had been reduced to 15 per cent, triggering concern and legal challenges from affected professionals.
Dr Arjun Maitra, President of the National Medical M.Sc. Teachers' Association (NMMTA), welcomed the move, stating, 'The ministry has stood by the principles of fairness and meritocracy. This reform brings relief to hundreds of highly qualified MSc/PhD faculty members who were unfairly sidelined.'
Although NMMTA's legal petition against the previous guidelines is still pending, Dr Maitra said the Ministry's decision to resolve the issue through policy reflects a commitment to justice and inclusivity. 'We see this as a milestone in our long and difficult journey toward recognition and respect,' he added.
Previously, the NMC had also restricted such faculty to teaching only during a "transitional period" — without defining its duration — and did not clarify the scope of applicability. The lack of specificity led to confusion and anxiety among educators.
Dr Ayan Das, Secretary of NMMTA, stressed the need for further clarity. 'To avoid ambiguity and alleviate concern among current faculty, the body must now clearly define the 'transition period' and correct misinterpretations around UGC norms — particularly the misconception that part-time PhDs earned in-service are invalid. Only distance-mode PhDs are not recognised.'
The reinstatement is being seen as a significant step toward equity in academic appointments, especially in the backdrop of a growing demand for quality educators in India's expanding network of medical colleges.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
14 hours ago
- India.com
Meet Indian billionaire, was once worth Rs 200000000000, owned multiple flats in Burj Khalifa, now bankrupt after selling his Rs 12400 crore company for just Rs 74 due to…
BR Shetty was once one of the riches men in the world. (File) BR Shetty story: While there are scores of rags to riches stories of people building successful businesses from scratch and earning a large amount of wealth, rarely does one across the opposite of a such a story, where a billionaire tycoon fell into oblivion after bankruptcy and lost a major portion of his fortune. The downfall of BR Shetty, an Indian-born businessman, who once owned several companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had net worth of over Rs 20,000 crore and lived a life of prime luxury– is one such rare tale which documents the rise and fall of a billionaire tycoon, and shows how one critical error can ruin a man and send him tumbling into the depths of obscurity. Who is BR Shetty? Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, or BR Shetty as he is popularly known, was born in a middle-income home in Udupi, Madras Presidency, then British India (now Karnataka, India), on August 1, 1942, and was once counted among the wealthiest people on the planet, ranking on the Forbes list of India's 100 Richest People in 2015, and the 42nd richest person in 2019. In 1973, at the age of 31, BR Shetty immigrated to Dubai in search of better opportunities, where he started his career as a medical representative, and began selling medicines as a door-to-door salesman. However, within a brief period, BR Shetty, who had arrived in Dubai with just $8 to his name, developed contacts with several wealthy and influential people in the UAE, and a few years later, established UAE's first private healthcare provider, New Medical Center Health (NMC), in Dubai. How BR Shetty established UAE's first private hospital? The NMC hospital was managed by Shetty's wife, Chandrakumari Shetty, who was the only doctor in the clinic, at the time. Today, NMC is the largest private healthcare provider in the UAE with over four million patients annually across 45 facilities spread over 12 cities and 8 countries, including UAE, KSA, Oman, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Colombia, and Brazil. NMC is also the first healthcare company from the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) and the first company from Abu Dhabi to be listed on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange and was part of the coveted FTSE 100 Index. However, the firm was de-listed from London Stock Exchange and removed from FTSE 100 index, following a request from its board of directors, and due to the on-going investigation of alleged financial irregularities. What other businesses did Shetty build? Apart from NMC, BR Shetty also founded the UAE Exchange, a company dealing in remittance, foreign exchange, and bill payment services. During the late 70s, Shetty observed that Indian expatriates living in UAE faced difficulties in sending money to their families back home in India, and thus landed upon the idea to establish the UAE Exchange, which in 2016, opened 800 offices in 31 countries. In 2003, BR Shetty founded NMC Neopharma, a UAE-based pharmaceutical manufacturer, which was inaugurated by the then President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in Abu Dhabi. What triggered BR Shetty's downfall? Over the years, BR Shetty's wealth ballooned thanks to owing to his diversified and successful business ventures which ranged from health, finance, to real estate, and capital investment. At one point, BR Shetty had a net worth of $3 billion (around Rs 20,000 crore), making him one of the wealthiest men globally. The Indian-born business tycoon lived a life of opulence, owned private jets and a fleet of Rolls Royce vehicles, and even bought two entire floors in the lavish Burj Khalifa, besides several luxurious villas across Dubai. However, fate took a cruel turn when in 2019, Muddy Waters Research levelled damning allegations against BR Shetty's companies. In a post on X (former Twitter), the US-based short-seller posted a report revealing that Shetty's firm owed a $1billion debt which was kept secret from the company's investors. How US short-seller report ruined BR Shetty? In its report, Muddy Waters Research alleged that Shetty had hid the debt from his investors and defrauded them by exaggerating cash flow figures. Following the allegations, the shares of Shetty's companies went into freefall, ultimately forcing him sell his Rs 12,478 crore company to the Israel-UAE consortium for just Rs 74. In 2020, amid investigations, BR Shetty resigned from his board position, and on April 8 that year, NMC Health went into Administration in the United Kingdom due to concerns over corporate governance and a share price in freefall. In the same month, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank filed a criminal complaint against NMC Health with the UAE Attorney General's Office, and days later, the Central Bank of UAE ordered the freezing of Shetty's bank accounts and the blacklisting of his firms. The embattled businessman is also under investigation in India, with agencies initiating a probe to identify potential risks to Indian banks. According to reports, Shetty's current net worth is a minute fraction of his earlier $3.5 billion fortune, consequently leading Forbes to drop him from its annual list of billionaires in 2020.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
APMC files review petition in High Court seeking more time and clarity on July 9 judgment in FMGs' case
After a Division Bench of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh issued directions on July 9 that Permanent Registration be granted to a Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG) in a month of the judgment, the Andhra Pradesh Medical Council (APMC) on August 7 filed a review petition in the court seeking more time and clarity in the verdict. In the July 9 order, the Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, said Permanent Registration should be given to the FMGs who had compensated all the practical studies, which they had missed during the pandemic period, by taking up additional offline classes. It also referred to the NMC's public notice of June 19, 2024, and said if the APMC doubted the veracity of documents produced by an FMG, the burden fell on it to ensure the validity of the same. The same Division Bench had, on August 4, given another direction for issuing speaking orders as per the norms of the NMC in respect of four petitioners who moved the court seeking Permanent Registration. The APMC sought clarity in this verdict as well. The APMC filed a review petition following a written response from the National Medical Commission (NMC), which reportedly felt that the July 9 order of the court 'will result in arbitrary relaxation of norms prescribed by it for ensuring uniform standards of study across the county.' A copy of the response is yet to be shared with the media. According to a press release from the Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare on August 8, the NMC suggested that the APMC file an appropriate application before the Division Bench seeking extension of time for complying with the July 9 verdict. As per the release, Special Chief Secretary M.T. Krishna Babu sought clarification from the NMC on August 5 on various subjects with regard to FMGs after discussing it with Minister for Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare Satya Kumar Yadav. The NMC, in its clarification on August 7, reportedly stated that physical study cannot be substituted by online study. It was said to have referred to the Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations (FMGL) and Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship Regulations, 2021, which, in normal situations, required an FMG to undergo one year compulsory internship in India after completion of medical graduation in foreign medical institutions. The NMC, as per the release, said, for those affected by the pandemic or war, in addition to one year of compulsory internship, they were required to undergo one or two more years of clerkship in India to compensate for the period of stay in India. But, the FMGs maintained that the FMGL regulations apply to those who joined the medical course after November 18, 2021, and that they all had joined the courses before 2020. The NMC, according to the release, clarified that compensation certificates issued by the foreign medical institutions should contain all details of academic and clinical courses. The certificates need to be authenticated by the Indian Embassies in the countries where the FMG studied their course.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
National Medical Register ID registration voluntary, says Union Minister Anupriya Patel
In a relief to doctors across the country protesting against the cumbersome registration process with the National Medical Register (NMR), Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel informed the Lok Sabha recently that application for issuance of an NMR Identification (ID) is voluntary. She was responding to a question from MP Aditya Yadav on whether the government had taken cognisance of the fact that, as of May 1, 2025, less than 1% of doctors had registered with the NMR eight months after its launch. The NMR is a centralised database of registered medical practitioners in modern medicine, maintained by the National Medical Commission (NMC). It contains information on each practitioner, including qualification, area of specialisation (in process), registration status, and date of registration, and assigns a unique identification number called the NMR ID. Launched in August 2024 under Section 31 of the NMC Act, 2019, the register was introduced as a mandatory exercise for all registered medical practitioners. It aims to eliminate duplication and enable the public to access information on any doctor working in India. Each doctor's record is linked to their Aadhaar ID for verification, with some data made public while sensitive information is restricted to specified individuals and institutions. State Medical Councils (SMCs) are responsible for verifying degrees and facilitating the process, with the portal dynamically updated for transparency and governance. Explaining the process, Ms. Patel said that under the Standing Operating Procedure (SOP), an applicant applies through the NMR portal. The application is first sent to the SMC where the doctor was initially registered, and after credential verification, it is forwarded to the NMC. Following further checks, the NMR ID is generated. She added that the NMC has written to all SMCs to 'put in extra efforts' to complete the registration. As per NMC data, there are 13,86,150 registered allopathic doctors in India. According to information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the NMC had received 10,411 applications till April 24 this year. The RTI reply, dated April 29, stated that 10,237 applications had not been approved, including 139 in which queries had been raised.
