New Delhi : Postgraduate degrees awarded by open universities under the distance education programme to students who did not have the basic three year degree could not be treated on a par with PG degrees obtained after regular study from a recognised University, Supreme court held on Wednesday February 2009.
A Bench consisiting of Justices S.B.Sinha and Mukundam Sharma upheld a Madras High Court Judgment invalidating Annamalai University PG degrees conferred on distant education students under the open University.
The Bench said the provisions of the University Grant Commission Act “ are binding on all universities, whether conventional or open. Its powers are very broad. They apply equally to all Universities”.
The degrees become invalidated in terms of provisions of the UGC Act, an authority under another act could not have validated the same and that too with retrospective effect. Relaxation cannot be granted to the basic thing necessary for conferment of a degree.
Source : Hindu Daily February 26,2009
Considering this fact a question arises.
Whether External MD in Homeopathy is a recognized one for job or promotion??
It is not a three year regular course, a mere postal course of two years duration
Homoeopathic post graduate courses become a laughing stocks among medical circles. Every homoeopathic post graduate will be looked down upon and will be ridiculed. ” Are you a postal graduate or postgraduate?.” Basic qualification for a Post- Graduation is at the minimum a Graduation in all the universities. But External MD is a PG without a graduation.
External MD means obtaining a post graduate medical degree through postal .One can get this by simply sitting at home.Thre is no question of regular training including internship, case presentations, seminars, clinical discussions, teaching training and such kind of hard work. Just pay money and sit back at home. At the end of 2 year just write an exam for the namesake – get an MD degree.
It is nothing less than a crime if we, in this era of advancement of science and medicine, to use those outdated and substandard tools such as external M.D, ignoring and disregarding the more efficient regular M.D. course to propagate our great system. It becomes a mockery, not just to anybody who believes in the advancement and progress, but to the very system of Homoeopathy . It is crystal clear that it is just an outcome of the insecurity feeling of various individuals who want to gain the benefits and privileges of the prestigious designation M.D. through much easier and stress free processes.
This particular stand of C.C.H. shows that they are retarding the growth of this true system of medicine. By doing so, the sitting councilors deliberately misuse the power of an association conferred to them. After the introduction of External MD , more than 5000 BHMS seats are vacant.
The transitory provision for enabling the Diploma holders to take-up M.D. course for a period of 8 years from 1989, has no justification to be continued as a regular feature for another 8 years, now again for another one year when hundreds of P.G. holders all over the country have been produced by various P.G. centers of studies in Homoeopathy.
The gap between regular candidates and the external candidates is very wide. The external P.G. course would defeat the concept of educational standards and excellence in the system. Nowhere in the world MD degrees are given through postal way in modern medicine, Ayurveda or Unani. IMC(Indian medical council) has very strict norms regarding post graduate courses.
The system of conferring Post-Graduate Medical Degrees by correspondence is opposed to all notions of organized training/education because such a degree with a shorter course and with no clinical and teaching training is adverse to the interest of the excellence and standard of education. It will only degrade and disintegrate the system of Homoeopathy in the long run.
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What is the fate of MBA obtained by B. tech students through IGNOU, Annamalai and other such universities??? These students have regular degree course but when it comes to PG level it is a distance education programme. American Universities are conducting such courses which are recognised worldwide.
Homoeopathy was once taught by teachers who have never seen the gates of a college. Mere passing of X std was necessary to walk into any institution to study homoeopathy. Even without studying science to intermediate level, students walked into diploma college where life science was the basic subject (to compensate biology) and that was taught by Bsc Science graduates. Graded BHMS was awarded to diploma holders after studying for 1 1/2 years thus making it equivalent to BHMS. Here too, there were students who got BHMS (graded) who never studied intermediate, PUC or PDC for that matter. Some of the doctors obtained diploma from NIH making it equivalent to regular BHMS degree and obtaining salary and other benefits same to BHMS (for that matter even diploma holders of 4 year study) also got the same benefit. So likely in due course External PG which is an issue right now will also be thrown into doldrums making it equivalent to regular PG, or another alternative will be suggested by the CCH.
What is the fate of Institutions where regular PG course are conducted like external PG?