Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday expressed his concern over the National Medical Commission's (NMC) recent decision to relax faculty recruitment norms for medical colleges, describing it as "baffling." The controversy stems from a proposal in the NMC's draft "Teachers Eligibility Qualifications (TEQ) in Medical Institutions Regulations" for 2024, which allows non-medical graduates with MSc and PhD degrees to teach essential medical subjects such as anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology to MBBS students for a limited period.

In a post on social media platform X, Ramesh criticized the move, linking it to other actions by the Modi government, including the lowering of cut-off percentiles for admission to post-graduate medical courses through NEET-PG. "First, the Modi Govt lowers the cut-off percentiles for admission to post-graduate medical courses, and now it relaxes norms for recruitment of faculty by medical colleges," he said. "The National Medical Commission was established in 2020 with high expectations for quality medical education, but some of the recent moves are raising concerns."

The NMC's draft TEQ 2024, which was released on January 17, aims to address faculty shortages in medical colleges by allowing 15% MSc and PhD graduates to teach MBBS students in subjects where MD candidates are unavailable. The commission is seeking feedback on the proposed regulations, with a deadline for responses set within a week.

Medical education experts and stakeholders are divided on the implications of this move, with some questioning whether it will compromise the quality of medical education in India.