Karnataka state to boast of 22 government medical colleges, first in nation

Bengaluru: Karnataka is all set to become the state with the highest number of government medical colleges in the country, with the government kick-starting the process of starting six new medical colleges in the economically backward districts. Each college is coming up at a capital expenditure Rs 199 crore.

Colleges will come up in Tumkur, Chitradurga, Chikkaballapur, Bagalkote, Haveri and Yadgir. Each college will have an annual intake of 150 MBBS seats each.
According to the latest gazette notification issued by the state medical education department, with these six new medical colleges, the total number of government medical colleges in the state would be 22. Presently, the state government is running medical colleges at Bengaluru, Mysore, Bellary, Hubli, Bidar, Raichur, Belgaum, Shimoga, Hassan and Mandya.

This year it was planning to start new medical colleges at Chamarajanagar, Kodagu (Madikeri), Gulbarga, Koppal, Gadag and Karwar. But the Medical Council of India (MCI) didn’t permit the state government to admit students to these six colleges, on the grounds that buildings were not available. These new colleges are expected to be completed by the next academic year. This means the state will have 22 government medical colleges – the highest in any state of the country.

According to the notification, the clinical facilities for the proposed six new government medical colleges will be made available in the existing six government district hospitals by entering into an MoU with the health department. No college at Mangalore According to sources, as per the original proposal, the state government was planning to start a new medical college at Mangalore as the city has one of the best government hospitals in the state.

“Another hospital was proposed at Udupi. But for reasons best known to the state government these districts are not included in the list of colleges. There is speculation that the private medical college lobby is against the state government starting new colleges in these two districts,” informed an officer.

Good news for students:

According to an estimate by the state government, once all the government medical colleges start admitting students, the total number of medical seats under the government quota is expected to cross the 4,000 mark. “This year we had more than 2,200 seats under government quota. These new colleges will add another 1,800 seats to the seat matrix, ensuring enough seats for the meritorious students,” an officer explained.

• New colleges will come up in Tumkur, Chitradurga, Chikkaballapur, Bagalkote, Haveri and Yadgir. Each college will have an annual intake of 150 MBBS seats each
• Each college is coming up at a capital expenditure Rs 199 crore
• Gazette notification has been issued by the state medical education department in this regard