Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash R Patil said that the state government has opposed the new guidelines of the National MedicalCouncil (NMC) to provide only 100 medical seats per 10 lakh population.
Speaking to media persons in the city on Friday, he said, “This is against the public interest. We started seven medical colleges during the previous Congress government. There are already 23 medical colleges and 12,000 medical seats for seven crore population in the state. We are starting a medical college with 150 seats in Chitradurga, this year. There is a proposal to increase the number of seats from 150 to 200 in Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI).”
“We are planning to have one medical college for each district, including one each in Ramanagara and Kanakapura. Many private medical colleges are likely to come up. So, the number of medical seats in the state will be increased further. The NMC’s guidelines are unscientific and are not in the interest of people. Restricting the number of seats indicates stepmotherly attitude of the Union government towards southern states. Hence, we are writing to the NMC opposing their guidelines,” Patil added.
(Published 27 October 2023, 20:00 IST)