The Medical Council of India (MCI) has directed three private self-financing medical colleges here to discharge 105 students admitted to first year MBBS course during academic year 2017-2018 in violation of rules.

A release from the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare services of Puducherry government today said the MCI has directed the three colleges to "immediately discharge the students," admitted in violation of Graduate Medical Education (GME) Regulations 1997. Based on the orders of MCI, the territorial government has directed the three colleges to remove the students from their rolls and submit a compliance report, it said. While 41 students were admitted to the MBBS course in Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College, the Sri Venkteshwara Medical College Hospital and Research Centre offered admission to 38 students whereas the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences gave admission to 26 candidates.

The MCI's direction is "on account of the fact that the lists of these students furnished by the colleges were not available in the the ones provided by the CENTAC (Centralised Admission Committee) of Puducherry government." CENTAC is the statutory authority for selection of the candidates for professional courses here. The territorial government has also informed the Registrars of Pondicherry University and the Tamil Nadu Medical Council of the directives of the MCI for necessary action.

It was also stated that the MCI had "erroneously recommended discharge of 56 candidates (55 under government quota and one under management quota) in Sri Venkateshwara Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, who were duly sponsored by the CENTAC." "The Puducherry administration has taken up the matter with MCI seeking to withdraw the action in respect of these 56 candidates," an official of the Health Department told PTI. "The college has also been advised not to discharge these candidates until further orders or communication of the MCI," he said.