TALES OF TRAVESTY
DR. JITENDRA SINGH
In a country where as many diseases are treated by faith-healers as by degree holder medical practitioners, what could be more ironic than a question mark raised on the faith reposed in the credibility of the degree held by a doctor ! A front page story in a leading national newspaper warns with bold caption ‘‘check on your doctor before a check-up’’ and goes on to elaborate that with the creation of more and more private colleges on the one hand and the Supreme Court striking down the common entrance test for medical colleges on the other hand, there is a strong possibility of an unsuspecting patient landing up with a medical consultant who might have bought his way into becoming a doctor through “management quota” from one of such colleges which are notorious for their lack of teaching and training infrastructure.
The figures are shockingly high. The list of private medical colleges, sardonically described as “Doctor Factories” reveals that, for example, there are as many as 32 of them with 4,555 seats in Karnataka, 26 of them comprising 3550 seats in Andhra Pradesh, 23 comprising 3350 seats in Tamil Nadu, 24 with 2995 seats in Maharashtra and 17 with 1850 seats in Kerala. Often, the exams are conducted internally by private or socalled deemed universities that run medical colleges.
An interesting statistical conclusion is that around 8,000 doctors passing out every year in this country today could be those who are products of the ‘‘bought’’ seats in medical colleges which, in other words, means that about one out of every five doctors or every fifth doctor passing out each year is a ‘‘management quota’’ doctor.
Quite disturbing to note is the fact that currently there are more number of seats in private medical college sector compared to government medical college sector, that is, 25,000 seats against 20,000 seats. In some cases, it was found that qualified people were employed to write the entrance exam and such proxy candidates, after getting allotment of seats, surrender the seat leaving it available to the management to allot at its discreation for as much as Rs 75 lakh to Rs 90 lakh or even more. The money for booking the seat is collected in black and seats are blocked as early as in December.
Statistics, data and figures aside, what is most worrisome is the inference driving thereof. A grave consequence for country’s public health! And, as a newspaper caption warns ‘‘Check on your doctor before a check up !’’ A nation which is already a victim of crumbling institutions is now threatened by cracks in the foundational structure of the most vital institution of health.
Hippocrates, the father of Medicine, writes, even in a situation when a doctor is devoid of any instrument or medicine or gadget, he can still be of useful service to the society. The common man looks upto a doctor as a ‘‘massanger’’ of God’s healing touch but… the new statistics warn us to beware if this ‘‘massanger’’ happens to be one out of those every five to have arrived via the ‘‘management quota” owned by a ‘‘merchant – son’ of God. Umapathy cites Allama Iqbal’s definition of the holy massanger of divine cure ‘‘….Sikhlayee Farishton Ko Aadam Ki Tarhap Ursne…’’
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