Strongly opposing the guidelines of the National Medical Commission (NMC) to cap the number of MBBS seats in medical colleges with the ratio of 100 seats for 10 lakh population in the states, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said that the State Government was completely opposed to the very idea and added that it would take measures to safeguard the interests of the students in the states.
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“It was South India that had given engineers and doctors to the entire India. The southern states are working to build a strong nation. The new NMC guidelines are opposed to South Indian States. The Karnataka government would write a letter to the Union government opposing the irrationality behind the NMC guidelines,” Mr. Patil said at Medicon-2023, the 89th annual conference of Indian Medical Association (IMA), held at the Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences (BRIMS) in Bidar on Saturday.
“The Union Government’s step-motherly treatment of South Indian states is not acceptable. BJP, which is in power at the Centre, is unduly favouring the states where BJP is in power. Karnataka is reeling under severe drought and the BJP-led Union government has not released drought compensation despite repeated requests. It has not responded to our demand to sanction an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to Raichur,” Mr. Patil said.
Pointing to the “irrationality” of the Union government in handling things in the field of medical sciences, Mr. Patil said that the State government would not allow the Union government to open Jan Aushadhi Kendras, the generic drug centres, on the premises of government hospitals.
“The State government is already providing generic medicines in all government hospitals and there is no meaning in opening additional generic medicine shops there. It can open them in private places. If the Union government really wants to reduce the medicine expenses of common people, it should take measures to ensure that the prices of generic medicines are not hiked,” Mr. Patil said.