Health varsity name change likely to affect students

Vijayawada: The decision of the state government to change the name of Dr NTR Health University as Dr YSR Health University is likely to affect the MBBS students who would be passing out of the university and want to pursue higher education abroad. Moreover, this decision will have to be ratified by the Indian Medical Association, National Medical Council, University Grants Commission and other associations related to medical education.

According to officials of the university, administratively there may not be much change in the activities of the university. But students who have passed out of NTR Health University and apply for PG courses in other countries like the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, etc, may have to face problems because when those universities would send documents for verification, the university would say that the Dr NTR Health University does not exist anymore and now it is Dr YSR Health University. These countries have not yet accorded recognition to the new name of the university. They may have to follow the procedure for recognition afresh and it would take a lot of time.

The Dr NTR University was formed more than 35 years ago and many institutions all over the world know about it. So, the students have never faced any problem in the other countries. It may take many months or years for them to recognise the new name. Till then, the students may suffer problems as they will have to show the documents related to the change of name, copy of the amendment bill, Governor's nod and other proofs, says IMA state president Dr C Srinivasa Raju.

He told the Hans India that the National Medical Council, which is formerly known as Medical Council of India, is the monitoring authority of the medical colleges in the country. The state government will have to send the details of the name change to the NMC, which maintains the list of medical colleges and universities in the country. The NMC too will have to accept and recognise the name change.

Indian Medical Association (IMA) state president Dr Srinivasa Raju said the State government is empowered to rename the varsity, but it should have informed the IMA, UGC and NMC before changing the name.

NTR University Registrar Ch Srinivasa Rao said the government can change the Health University Act and its name. But it would have been better if the varsity was taken into confidence before changing the name. No prior information was given to the university officials, he said. Speaking to The Hans India, Rao said, "We had no information about this."