Date:15/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/15/stories/2006031502210300.htm

Karnataka - Bidar

Bidar medical college: delegation to meet Chief Minister today

Staff Correspondent

Agriculture Minister Bandeppa Kashempur has said the Government is `serious' about opening the college in Bidar this year

Bidar: Medical Education Minister V.S. Acharya's statement that only two (in Mandya and Belgaum) of the six proposed government medial colleges will come up this year has disappointed the people here. Lack of qualified teachers and the slow pace of infrastructure work have been cited as the reasons for the delay in starting the colleges elsewhere. A delegation of an agitation committee for the Bidar government medical college will meet Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday. "We will urge him to start the college here this year," committee convenor Channabasappa Halahalli told The Hindu. The Government has to take up the development of backward areas such as Bidar on priority, he said.

"There are not many qualified doctors and surgeons in the district. World Health Organisation says there should be at least 1,000 doctors per a million people. There are only about 100 doctors and 30 surgeons for a population of 15 lakhs in Bidar. Setting up of a government medical college will mean that more qualified doctors will serve in the district," said committee member Basavaraj Biradar Hudge. Agriculture Minister and Bidar MLA Bandeppa Kashempur, has, however, said the Government is "serious" about opening the college in Bidar this year. "Preparations are in full swing for starting the college. The college has been registered as Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS) and given the status of an autonomous institution. Teachers can be appointed. Work on the basement and ground floor is complete. We have issued a notice to the contractor asking him to complete work on the first floor before April," Mr. Kashempur said.

Deputy Commissioner Munish Moudgil also said that preparations are on for opening the college this year itself. "According to Medical Council of India guidelines, a new medical college requires 25 acres of land in a `single contiguous' patch. We have handed over 20.5 acres of land to BIMS. We are clearing encroachments on 3.5 acres of land. We have issued notices to 21 encroachers and started legal proceedings against them. We will also take possession of houses built on encroached land. We have taken legal possession of a house owned by Saraswatibai, daughter of Vinayakrao. We will convert it into a quarters for the BIMS principal," Mr. Moudgil said.