DHARAMSALA, Nov 19: Himachal Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda today said the government would shortly raise the number of seats in the MBBS course at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, from 65 to 100 with the approval of the Medical Council of India (MCI).Talking to mediapersons here, he said the government had to decrease the seats to 65 in the ongoing session at IGMC as the MCI had refused recognition following the failure of the previous Congress government to take MCI into confidence before increasing the number of seats. "We are all for the future of medical students. To make things move faster in this direction, we have already moved to restore the 35 seats through proper channel," he said.
Nadda said the Virbhadra government had played a cruel joke with medical education institutions. "
The government is making sincere efforts to settle things at Tanda Medical College by adding the required facilities.
We are upgrading the infrastructure, library, residential accommodation for teachers and bringing more experts to the Tanda campus," he said, adding that the BJP government had sanctioned Rs 908 lakh for 1998-99 against the Rs 336 lakh allocated for the Tanda college by the Virbhadra government for 1997-98.
The Health Minister said the previous Congress leaders had tried to fulfill their political motives at the cost of the future of the Himachal youth. "It is rather shocking that the Congress government did not take the approval of the Dental Council of India for running the Government Dental College at Shimla even after four batches had passed out from the institution. We have already been served a show-cause notice on this account but we hope to get the necessary formalities done completed soon in the interest of the students," he added.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.