6 of 13 upcoming medical colleges in Karnataka dropped: Report

Bengaluru: The state government's ambitious plan to start medical colleges has suffered a setback with the government deciding to drop six of the 13 medical colleges announced during the 2016-17 budget as the Finance Department has refused to approve the said projects.

Medical Education Minister Shranprakash Patil said on Tuesday that the project involves over Rs 1,200 crore and the Finance Department has not given its nod. Though there is one more meeting pending before the Finance Department, yet it is doubtful that the proposal will be cleared, he told Deccan Chronicle.

The government has already written to the Medical Council of India for permission to admit 150 students at Bowring hospitals, which is expected to be granted after an MCI inspection. But medical colleges in Chitradurga, Yadgir, Bagalkot, Haveri, Tumakuru, and Chikkamagaluru may not see the light of day, reports Deccan Chronicle.

In an earlier report done by the medical dialogues team it was stated that the budgetary sanction of six Government Medical Colleges (GMCs), for the state in the last budget would not take off the ground even in 2018-19. The lack of infrastructure had led to the local Inquiry Committee consisting of experts from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS)to refuse permission for starting the colleges.

Of the seven colleges announced in the state budget of 2016, including one at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bengaluru, the latter two of the seven are the only colleges that are likely to get operations approval.

Dr K S Ravindranath, Vice-Chancellor of RGUHS had said, “As per the information from LIC members, the places where the medical colleges are proposed are not equipped with necessary facilities to run a medical college. We will communicate this to the Department of Medical Education.”

“Building construction on Bowring hospital premises is on and they have time till June to get approval. We will send another team after the construction,” the V-C added.

Despite fulfilling infrastructural and other criteria specifications the college would only be able to start courses for the 2018-19 academic year.

Read also: Karnataka: Six sanctioned medical colleges yet to start