NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued show cause notice to 71 medical colleges, both govt and private, in West Bengal after finding them to be deficient with respect to faculty, infrastructure and other clinical parameters, the govt told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.In a written reply to a parliament question, minister of state in the health ministry, Anupriya Patel said 34 medical colleges – govt & Private – were issued show cause notices in the academic year 2024-25 and 37 others (govt & private) were issued notices in the academic year 2025-26.Accordingly, for the academic year 2024-25, as per the nature of deficiencies, monetary penalties were also imposed on these colleges and for the academic year 2025-26, based on the compliance reports submitted by these colleges, conditional renewal of MBBS seats have been granted, Patel said. She added that Sanjiban Hospital and medical college in West Bengal has been cited for operating without the necessary approval from the NMC and that an advisory note was issued in the matter on May 19.Further, she added, Post Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) of NMC also while scrutinizing the recognition/ renewal of recognition applications for the year 2022 had observed deficiencies primarily relating to the faculty, infrastructure and penalized some colleges by reducing the number of seats for academic year 2024-25 under the provisions of Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (MSMER-2023) and erstwhile Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, (PGMER-2000).The minister of state in the health ministry said that Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of NMC has also issued alert to all concerned stakeholders against unauthorized medical colleges operating in the country without requisite approvals from NMC and misleading students and parents by claiming recognition and offering admissions in medical courses that are not legally sanctioned.