The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Government will ensure that MCI standards are met, says Acharya

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Government will ensure that MCI standards are met, says Acharya

Staff Reporter

Six new government medical colleges not ready to become functional this year

SCANNING EQUIPMENT: Medical Education Minister V.S. Acharya (left) looking at the multi-slice CT scanner at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: The State Government would improve the infrastructure and staffing in the six proposed government medical colleges by August-end to comply with the standards laid down by the Medical Council of India, Minister for Medical Education V.S. Acharya said on Tuesday.

MCI inspection

Representatives of the MCI who recently visited the colleges to assess their level of preparedness to admit students in September felt that the colleges were not ready. The infrastructure in colleges coming up in six districts, including Bidar, Raichur, Belgaum, Hassan and Mandya, was not sufficient to meet the demands of the first year MBBS course. Also, the staffing needs of the colleges had not been completely met, according to the MCI.

"We are working day and night to ensure that the project is completed on time," Dr. Acharya said at the inauguration of an `Emotion 6 Slice CT Scanner' at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital here. The multi-slice computerised tomography (CT) scanner, which was gifted to the hospital by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, will deliver an image of the cross-section of the thorax, abdomen and pelvis within 20 seconds.

Observations

Dr. Acharya said the MCI had made several "small observations" with regard to the medical colleges. "We will be writing to the MCI by June 25 committing ourselves to complying with their guidelines," he told presspersons.

To a question on whether the seat matrix and the fee structure had been decided for admissions to professional courses, he said that two committees were still debating the matter.

However, he added, it would be formatted in such a way that it favoured students from the State.

Rs. 100 crore for BMC

He said he was very happy that the Union Government had decided to give Rs. 100 crore for the development of Bangalore Medical College. "We will develop the BMC into a world-class facility," he said.

Bowring and Lady Curzon is the second government hospital after Victoria to receive a multi-slice scanner, said Director of Medical Education S. Ramananda Shetty. The equipment costs Rs. 2.5 crore. "The new CT scanner is an asset to government hospitals. It will assist doctors a lot in identifying tumours," he said.

Mayor of Bangalore Mumtaz Begum and Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Vice-Chancellor P.S. Prabhakaran also attended the event.

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