Karnataka orders officials to seal nursing colleges that lack basic amenities

He instructed Director of Medical Education Dr Sujatha Rathore, present in the meeting, to inspect and seal those colleges that have erred.

Expressing displeasure against the managements of private colleges, Dr Patil said that the government went soft on the managements hoping that they would rectify their mistakes but to no avail.

“Barring a few, most of the colleges lack facilities such as teaching and non-teaching staff, library and laboratory facilities, hygiene and other issues. They collect huge fees from students during admission but fail to provide facilities,” the minister said.

He directed the officials to visit colleges before the admission and check if they are adhering to government rules and regulations and take strict action against those flouting norms.

Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil on Thursday directed officials to conduct inspection and seal the nursing colleges that failed to provide basic infrastructure facilities to its students despite collecting huge fees from them and availing all benefits from the government.

Rejecting the demand of nursing college managements to hike the fee structure by 20 percent, Patil said the government would always safeguard the interests of students. The fee for each student getting admission under government quota is ₹10,000 and ₹1 lakh under management quota and for non-Karnataka students it will be ₹1.40 lakh.

The minster suggested the managements to provide 40 per cent seats under government quota. There are 35,000 seats available in 611 nursing colleges. The managements fill 80 per cent while 20 per cent goes under government quota. “If the managements provide 40 per cent under government quota then it will greatly help poor students,” Dr Patil said.

The minister also instructed the officials to work out modalities to begin the admission process in July instead of September from the current academic year.