Opening of medical colleges made easier

According to Dr Devi Shetty, Member, Board of Governors, the decision was taken at a high-level meeting held in New Delhi on Saturday. The change in criteria is aimed at helping the opening of 500 new medical colleges in the country in the next five years.

Now, a new college doesn’t need 25 acres of land to establish its campus. The land requirement has been reduced to 10 acres. Further, the Board of Governors suggested that the existing district and taluk hospitals could be converted into full-fledged government medical colleges. But they will have to set up two campuses - one for the college and another for the hospital.

The Board also decided to allow established medical colleges to increase their intake of students to 250. Moreover, the retirement age of medical teachers has been raised from 65 to 70 years.

Hoping that the decision would not affect the quality of education, Dr Shetty said that the increase in retirement age of teachers would ensure this. "This will ensure that quality is not compromised," he told Deccan Herald.