Karnataka - Shimoga   

MLAs urged to lobby for govt. medical college

By Our Special Correspondent

SHIMOGA, SEPT. 10. M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister for Water Resources and Transport, said here on Friday that the Government's decision to set up five more medical colleges in various places in the State was prompted by its concern to provide more opportunities for the poor and meritorious students to opt for a career in medicine.

The Minister was laying the foundation stone for the Mahaveer Jain Hospital being developed as part of the Shivappa Nayak Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) at Malligenahalli about 5 km from here on the Shimoga-Sagar Road.

Mr. Kharge said that it had been left to the discretion of the Cabinet and the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, to decide on the location of the new medical colleges proposed to be set up by the Government.

He said the proposal to start a private medical college in Shimoga did not mean that it would not be considered for a government college.

He said he had made a statement in the Legislative Council that Shimoga was one of the five places where the Government had decided to start medical colleges.

Now that it had been decided to authorise the Cabinet and the Chief Minister to decide on the location of the new medical colleges, Shimoga could stake its claim for it.

He said that with the McGann Hospital being upgraded, Shimoga's claim for a government college had been strengthened. "It is for the local legislators to make a case for it," he said.

Mr. Kharge apologised to the students and parents for the inconvenience caused to them on account of the delay in finalising the seat sharing and fee structure for professional courses. Apart from increasing the seat intake for medical courses by about 500 for poor students by opening new medical colleges in five places, he said the Government had decided to upgrade its colleges in Hubli and Bellary to increase the student intake from 50 to 100 for the convenience of poor students.

Congratulating the SIMS on starting a medical college, Mr. Kharge made it clear that the Medical Council of India would not recognise it unless the new college had its own hospital with at least 350 beds.

Kumar Bangarappa, Sorab MLA, addressed the gathering. Kagodu Thimmappa, former Minister, presided over the function.

M.S. Sreedhar, SIMS Secretary, welcomed the gathering. C.M. Gurumurthy, Dean of the SIMS, spoke.

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