Medical PG seat matrix to be out soon

The counselling for government postgraduate (PG) medical and dental seats will begin soon and the matrix will be announced in a few days, Minister of State for Medical Education Sharanprakash Patil said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, Patil said the counselling process could not be taken up as the Supreme Court had been hearing a case regarding the domicile issue.

The apex court last week termed unconstitutional a 10-year domicile clause in government PG entrance examination rules that excludes candidates from other states from appearing for entrance test, even if they have completed MBBS and BDS courses in colleges within the State.

Patil said the seat matrix would include 25 per cent seats in all deemed universities in the State. The matrix will be finalised after it is vetted by the High Court of Karnataka, he said. The seat selection process will be conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority.

He said that a team from the Medical Council of India (MCI) will visit the six proposed medical colleges in the State, including in Gadag, Karwar, Chamarajanagar, Koppal, Gulbarga and Kodagu for inspection in the first week of May. Patil further said the recruitment of 60 per cent of the faculty in the proposed colleges had been completed. The government had sanctioned Rs 29 crore for each college.

 Work on the buildings had commenced. The government would make efforts to ensure that the colleges start functioning from the academic year 2014-15. As many as 900 MBBS seats will be added to the seat matrix if the colleges are approved, Patil said.

The government has proposed six more medical colleges in Tumkur, Chitradurga, Chikkaballapur, Bagalkot, Haveri and Yadgir.

Replying to queries, he said the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was investigating the marks cards scam in the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) and the report was likely to be submitted soon. The RGUHS Act has been amended to ensure that only top-ranking government officials hold key posts, he said.

The government has proposed to set up super-speciality hospitals at Gulbarga, Mysore, Belgaum, Hubli and Bellary. The hospitals in Belgaum and Hubli will be established using Central aid. The State government will earmark Rs 150 crore each for the other three hospitals, he added.