“Nationalization of Private Medical Colleges Not Correct” – the article by Ranjan Das Gupta examines whether full government control is the answer to rising costs and uneven standards in medical education, arguing instead for balanced regulation, ethical training, and stronger oversight.

The debate over nationalizing private medical colleges has resurfaced in India amid rising medical education costs and concerns over standards. However, experts argue that blanket nationalization may weaken healthy competition and innovation. Instead, effective regulation and partnerships may offer a more practical path forward.  

A month ago, certain reputed medical practitioners called for nationalization of all private medical colleges. The reason was attributed to the same theory of nationalization of banks. A study reveals that banks and medical colleges are not on the same lines. A complete nationalization of medical colleges will lead to a big fallout in government–private competition regarding health education. It is not without reason that many private management institutes are doing reasonably well and competing healthily with their government counterparts.

True, the expenditure in private medical colleges is far higher compared to government-owned ones. The majority of students appearing for MBBS or higher medical education cannot afford it. It is up to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare as well as the National Medical Commission to regulate college fees and make them affordable for needy students. Astonishingly, such steps are yet to be taken by our central government, whose health budget annually is only 2 percent.

Questions About Quality of Training

The continuing debate also highlights whether private medical colleges produce practitioners of the same standards as their government-owned contemporaries. This debate is never-ending, and no one can prove that students from private medical colleges are inferior. Of course, there are exceptions to this. However, there is no guarantee either that every pupil from government medical colleges forms the crème de la crème of healthcare.

The present scenario has united both government and private medical colleges. The Union Government's decision to bring all doctors under the Consumer Act has brought Dr. Devi Shetty's Association of Healthcare Providers and the Indian Medical Association together to file a case at the Supreme Court challenging the government's decision and seeking a review. The case has been admitted in the Supreme Court.

Expert Views on Healthcare Standards

Dr. Dwarkanath Reddy, an eminent ENT specialist, says that the WHO guideline provides one mature doctor for a thousand patients. He also states that compared to other Indian states, the Southern ones now have one doctor for eight hundred patients. He also does not go against private medical colleges but cautions that quacks should in no way be allowed to flourish. Dr. Anna Pullimood of CMC, Vellore, is of the opinion that medical education is full of ethics, integrity, and a high level of study and research. She does not favour full nationalization of all medical colleges.

Private medical colleges many times have staff who have retired from government medical colleges or left their previous assignments. Not all of them prove to be ideal medical teachers, but their experience, if rightly administered and used, can yield good results. Studious medical students in private medical colleges like CMC, Vellore have definitely proved their worth nationwide.

Need for Stronger Regulation

However, every private medical college is not of the same standard as CMC, Vellore. Malpractices are prevalent in many of them, and it is the National Medical Commission which can control them with strong decisions. Compared to Odisha or other places like Delhi and Southern India, the condition of private medical colleges in Bengal is not at all of high standards. It should be remembered that medical education differs from typical management, mass communication, and other streams. A no-nonsense attitude is required to keep it flourishing. Latest medical research is not receiving the sort of importance it should in many medical colleges, government or private.

Just as privatization of NTPC, ONGC, or the Railways is an absurd notion, the pattern for medical colleges differs to a large extent. There is ample scope for government and private joint ventures and partnerships to improve standards of medical education. The present medical scenario has witnessed a large number of strikes which have hampered public healthcare in a big way. The ideal example is the RG Kar Hospital crisis in 2024, when for three months OPD treatment was refused to countless helpless patients and around fifty died due to the commotion.

Private medical colleges in general have a tendency to look up with airs and have a culture which does not go with the common man. This is not so in government hospitals, where the patient reach is far larger and doctors have to literally work too hard to attend to thousands of patients. The approach of private medical colleges should be more grounded.

Silent Warriors of Healthcare

Dr. Vandana Talwar, HOD of Healthcare Studies at Indraprastha University, was earlier with a central government hospital. She has always maintained a proper balance between medical education and healthcare checkups. The same can be said about many other doctors nationwide.

Many like her are also in private medical colleges and are silent warriors of healthcare, fighting dreaded diseases as well as imparting the right healthcare education. It is now for our National Medical Commission to maintain the perfect balance between government and private medical colleges sans all-out nationalization.

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