15 out of 16 Karnataka Medical Colleges fail to fulfil NIRF criteria

Bengaluru: There are 16 government medical colleges in Karnataka state; but, as harsh reality strikes as only one medical college is worthy enough to fulfil the criteria to apply for National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2019.

This year, the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) is the only government medical college to have applied for NIRF for both, the 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic years. All the 15 other institutes, as said by the authorities, failed to apply for this annual ranking due to ineligibility in fulfilling the criteria.

According to the state Department of Medical Education, this is because no other college meets the criteria fixed by the Union Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD) under NIRF.

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Dr Girish, Director of State Department of Medical Education told TNIE, “All colleges need to apply for ranking under NIRF, but as many have failed to fulfil some of the criteria.

Organizational & Infrastructural woes

The key reasons for non-eligibility of these government-run medical colleges are organizational and infrastructural issues.

Speaking to Mirror, a senior official from the Medical Education Department said, “We motivate all colleges to apply for NIRF ranking but they fail to fulfil the criteria. Government-run medical colleges cannot apply due to infrastructural woes.”

An official said that they were working on improving the remaining medical colleges so that they too become eligible from next year.

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According to government medical college principals, infrastructure and staff are the major issues for non-eligibility.

The Karnataka Professional Colleges Foundation said that last year over 100 private medical colleges had applied for NIRF from the country, of which around 25 were selected. This year, over 250 will participate, adds Mirror.

NIRF

NIRF is a ranking of universities, colleges and higher educational institutions introduced by MHRD and is parallel to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). The ranking is a reflection of the yearly performance of institutions. In the NIRF process, institutions can get rankings on annual basis.

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