The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : New dental college to start functioning in Bellary

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Tuesday, Jun 24, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

New dental college to start functioning in Bellary

Deepa Kurup

It will only be the second government college in State

The college will have a student intake of 50
A budgetary allocation of Rs. 6 crore has
been made

BANGALORE: Dental seat aspirants in Karnataka have a pleasant surprise ahead of them. A new government dental college will be opened this year in Bellary with an intake of 50 students. This is the second government dental college in the State and comes exactly 50 years after the first one was started in Bangalore.

The Government Dental College, Bellary, will be attached to the Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences and classes will be tentatively held on its campus.

A new campus will be built over the next year and a budgetary allocation of Rs. 6 crore had already been sanctioned this year.

A five-acre campus has been earmarked and the construction is expected to cost Rs. 14 crore.

The Dental Council of India has already granted permission to admit students after inspections. Secretary, Medical Education, Shankarlinge Gowda, said it was a “great achievement” as more students from rural areas would be provided access to dental education.

“Funds have already been commissioned and detailed plans have been laid out. A separate campus will be built soon with hostels and clinics,” he told The Hindu.

Though the seat selection procedure conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority got over last week, these seats will be on offer in the casual vacancy rounds. This year, the government lost about 100 seats when the JSS College, Mysore, was accorded deemed university status.

The State has 38 approved dental colleges out of which the only government college is in Bangalore. In private dental colleges, 35 per cent of the seats come under the government quota, which means that out of 2,600 dental seats in the State, only 846 seats have subsidised fees. While the annual government college fees is Rs. 14,400 and the government quota seats cost Rs. 32,500, private seats allotted by the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges-Karnataka can cost anywhere up to Rs. 2.3 lakh per annum.

Principal of the new college (Bellary) Chandrashekhar Savadi said that a building with 1,40,000 sq ft had been commissioned and hostel and clinic facilities would be provided on the VIMS campus. Four professors, two readers and lecturers were appointed last month.

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