7 new government medical colleges in Rajasthan denied MCI approval

Jaipur: The state of Rajasthan has once again received a set back at the hands of the Medical Council of India (MCI), which has for the 2^nd consecutive year refused permission for the starting of the proposed 7 new government medical colleges in the state.

The Council's decision has also put the state government in an uncomfortable corner, as it had announced the medical colleges getting into the operational mode from the coming academic year., but will now won't even get off the ground.

The state government had earlier been optimistic about starting the academic sessions in these colleges from 2018-19 in at least 5 districts, namely Churu, Pali, Bhilwara, Bharatpur, and Dungarpur. However, all proposals for the five district colleges have been rejected by the Council and there is dim hope for the ones planned at Barmer and Sikar as these were not equipped right from the start to make this new beginning.

The Council had tabled its report at a meeting of the Executive Committee held on December 14, 2017, in New Delhi. In this meeting, the apex education regulator discussed the status of seat increase in the present colleges, along with the approval application of the new medical colleges

The new medical colleges that came up for discussion were inspected in November, 2017. The Medical Council assessment of the colleges was tabled in front of the executive committee members. The Executive Committee concluded that the colleges put up for approval to them were short of adequate facilities required for starting these district colleges and therefore, failed to meet the eligibility criteria required for commencing of an academic session for the year 2018-19, reports TOI.

In an earlier story written by Medical Dialogues, the team reported that the Medical Education Minister, Kalicharan Saraf was optimistic about the center giving approval to five new medical colleges to admit students for MBBS for the academic year 2017-18. With the center's approval, he said would come an addition of 500 more medical seats for MBBS courses in the state. This new development he said would come about despite the Medical Council of India disallowing the five from taking in admissions for the current session after conducting an inspection earlier in the year and finding the five falling short on MCI norms.