JOIN USHundred medical colleges to be started soon: Azad
The Central Government has decided to establish up to 100 medical colleges in the next couple of years, said Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad.
He was speaking after laying the foundation for construction of the silver jubilee hall, library and information centre of the Devaraj Urs Medical College at Tamaka on the outskirts of the city on Friday.
“The Central government is working to alleviate the shortage of human resource in the medical field. There are currently seven lakh doctors in the country, but that is just half of what we need,” he said and added that more medical colleges need to be set up for this.
Problems of colleges
The minister explained that medical colleges had not been established due to shortage of teaching staff available for appointment as well as high price of facilities. The rules involving establishment of medical colleges too have therefore been relaxed, he added.
“A medical college required to have 25 acres to be set up. Now, however, the requirement has been brought down to 20 acres. The investment expenditure too will be cut by 30 per cent, promoting establishment of medical colleges,” he explained.
Speaking on enrolment, Azad said the number of students for each class has been increased by a 100. Colleges can now take up to 250 students per class. This will also increase the ratio between students and lecturers. “The current ratio in post-graduate colleges is 1:1, which will be increased to 1:2. For post-graduate courses related to cancer, the ration will now become 1:3,” he added.
The shortage of lecturers will also be handled by increasing the age for superannuation from 65 years to 70 years, said the minister.
More grants
Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the State government has already granted up to Rs 2,428 crore for health matters. The grants will be hiked in the coming financial year, he added.
“It is necessary to exterminate problems like malnutrition and diabetes. The Central and State governments should work together to achieve this. The Central government too should have a ready hand in granting funds to the medical field,” said the CM.
Power to DC
Referring to the shortage of doctors available for appointment to the government hospitals, he said the Deputy Commissioners were given authority to appoint local doctors to the hospitals.
Gowda appreciated the works of Devaraj Urs Medical College, which has completed 25 years of service in drought-affected areas.
R L Jalappa, chairman of the Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research gave the inaugural address.Vice-chancellor Dr S Chandrashekhar Setty welcomed. Registrar A V M Kutty, principal Dr M B Sanikoppa and Dr V Lakshmaiah, medical inspector at the Jalappa Hospital were also present.
G H Nagaraj, Academy secretary, K H Muniyappa, Union Minister, A Ramdas, Minister for Medical Education, R Varthur Prakash, District In-charge Minister, S N Krishnaiah Setty, Naseer Ahmed and M Narayanaswamy, legislators and Nazia, City Municipal Council president were among those on the dais.