Bowring Medical College up for MCI inspection

Kalaburagi: The soon to be established Bowring Medical College will soon be visited by a team of Medical Council of India(MCI), inspectors for approval. This announcement was made by the Minister for Medical Education, Mr. Sharanaprakash Patil, who said that the government’s intention was made known to the Council through a proposal sent to it for the establishment of the institution at Bangalore.

The Council had sought clarification from the government a few weeks ago, which was adhered to immediately, said the Minister.

Replying to a query, Patil said that the government has done away with the idea of establishing 6 more colleges (at Yadgir, Bagalkot, Chikkaballapaur, Chikkamagaluru, Haveri, and Chitradurga) in the city for the year 2018-19, as the finance department has refused to release funds for the projects.

However, the Medical Education Department has taken up the matter with the Finance Department. The proposed new medical colleges it is believed may materialize in 2019-2020, he added.

The minister further said that the MCI recently inspected Chamarajnagar Institute of Medical Sciences and Madikeri Institute of Medical Sciences which were started in the academic year 2016-17 for infrastructural facilities.

Sharanaprakash said that government has increased student intake at Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences, Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, Bidar Institute of Medical Institute, Belgaum Institute of Medical Sciences and Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences from a 100 to 150 seats. The intake at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) has gone up from a 150 to 200 after the Council approval.The MCI team may visit these colleges for infrastructure facilities, he added.

The Minister said that in the last four years, 8 new medical colleges had been established by the government with 800 seats and 50 seats have been increased in each of seven medical colleges, taking the strength of medical seats to 1,150.

With an approval to Bowring Medical college, this year, by the Council the strength of medical seats in government quota will increase to 1,250. The hike will benefit the poor and rural students, the Minister stated.

Replying to a question, Mr. Patil said that government is making efforts to vacate the stay on compulsory rural service and if the state succeeds in its efforts, there would be no shortage of doctors in government hospitals in the state, reports TNIE.