Six more medical colleges will come up in state: Minister Dr Patil says at Udupi

Six more medical colleges will come up in state: Minister Dr Patil says at Udupi

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, March 1, 2017: Speaking to media on the sidelines of the inauguration of a pre-conference workshop on critical care physiotherapy of the School of Allied Health Sciences at Udupi; Sharanprakash R. Patil, Minister for Medical Education, said on Feb 28,Tuesday that the government would be establishing six more medical colleges in the State.

Minister Patil said his department was awaiting the nod from the Finance Department for this move. The colleges would come up in Bagalkot, Haveri, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Chickballapur, and Yadgir. “We have got the approval to convert Bowring hospital in Bengaluru into a medical college,” he said.


He said the government was trying to establish medical colleges so that poor students could afford medical education. “We want to allot more seats under the merit quota, especially for poor students who cannot afford costly medical education,” Dr. Patil said.

“Since last four years, we have been able to open six government medical colleges in the district headquarters of Kalaburagi, Koppal, Gadag, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, and Uttara Kannada,” he said.

The government added 900 medical seats last year by starting six medical colleges. It had sought enhancement of seats from 100 to 150 in old medical colleges this year. A branch of the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research would be opened in Hubballi.

A branch of Kidwai Institute of Oncology would be inaugurated in a month in Kalaburagi and a tertiary care centre would be established in Mandya with the Union government’s assistance, Dr. Patil said.

The construction of two superspeciality hospitals, with assistance from the Union government, had started in Hubballi and Ballari. Two trauma centres — in Mysuru and Kalaburgi — were under construction. “By establishing these institutes, we want to keep a check no rising medical costs in private corporate hospitals,” he said.

After inaugurating the pre-conference, he said physiotherapy had major scope, and the role of allied health sciences was important in giving quality healthcare. All encouragement will be given in medical fields.