The Hindu : Karnataka / Hassan News : Hurdles cleared for setting up medical college

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 24, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Hassan

Hurdles cleared for setting up medical college

By Our Staff Correspondent

HASSAN, OCT. 23. Hurdles in the way of setting up the government medical college in Hassan have been cleared.

The construction of the college building will commence before December, according to sources in the district administration.

In view of the recent impasse over admissions to professional courses, especially medicine, the Government had decided to set up five medical colleges in the State, including one in Hassan.

Team of experts

A team of experts, including the Director of Medical Education, Sudhakara Shetty, the principal of Mysore Medical College, Ram Prasad, and the chief architect of the Public Works Department, visited and surveyed the land in the premises of Sri Chamarajendra District Hospital on Thursday. This is the team's second visit to the city.

The Minister for Public Works and Energy and district in-charge, H.D. Revanna; the Hassan MLA, H.S. Prakash; the president of the Hassan City Municipal Council, G.T. Kumar; the Deputy Commissioner, K.H. Ashwathanarayana Gowda; the chief executive officer, M.O. Nagaraj; the District Health Officer, B.S. Nagaraja Rao; and the District Surgeon, Devamani, were present during the survey and also participated in the discussions held at the Deputy Commissioner's office.

Blue print

The team of experts has decided to utilize 25 acres of land available, which included the premises of the district hospital, the district health office, the Pre-University College for Boys, and the land adjacent to the Sanjeevini hospital for setting up the college.

Mr. Revanna had instructed the chief architect of the Public Works Department to prepare a blue print of the college building and submit it to the department soon, sources said.

Upgradation

Dr. Rao told The Hindu that it had been decided to increase the capacity of district hospital from the present strength of 300 beds to a 1,000, by increasing the number of floors. He said that the hospital would be upgraded to a Super Speciality Hospital that was needed to set up a medical college. The old buildings of the district hospital and the district health office would also be demolished to facilitate the construction of the college. The quarters of hospital officials and hostel for nursing students would be used for constructing quarters and hostels for the medical college staff and students respectively, he added.

He also said that the Indian Medical Council (IMC) would grant permission to start the medical college from the next academic year only if the construction of one-third of the building was completed.

Relief

The decision to exempt the playground of the pre-university college from the land allotted for the construction of the medical college has provided much needed relief to many.

The students and their parents were also heaving a sigh of relief, as they were against the decision to shift the college, Mr. Kumar said.

Dr. Shetty said that 25-acres was needed to get the approval for the medical college.

As there was no problem in meeting the IMC regulations, the hurdles in the way of setting up the college have been cleared, he added.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News Update

Stories in this Section

Hurdles cleared for setting up medical college

Halmidi inscription proves antiquity of Kannada: Moily