Sardar Rajas medicos can be sent to govt colleges

Times of India, Oct 31, 2015
Bhubaneswar: The Medical Council of India (MCI) wants the state government to split students of Sardar Rajas Medical College and Hospital, Jaring in Kalahandi district, in both government and private colleges.

According to minutes of a meeting convened by the Union ministry of health and family welfare in New Delhi on October 12, the MCI wanted the state government to relocate those admitted in management quota to private colleges and others admitted under government quota to government colleges. From among the 124 students of two batches, only 15 were admitted in management quota.

The MCI also sought an undertaking from the state government that the Jaring college would be shut down. On October 8, the state government had submitted a proposal to the MCI to relocate the students in three private medical colleges in Bhubaneswar. The health ministry has sought a revised proposal from the state. "We will submit it soon," said a senior government officer.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday declined to stay its order and that of the Orissa high court on relocation of the medicos.

Hearing an appeal by the Tamil Nadu-based Selvam Educational and Charitable trust, which runs the Jaring college, and another petition by the MCI, an SC bench of Justice Anil R Dave and Justice A K Goel stuck to the SC's interim order on September 30 and said the HC was at liberty to decide all the issues, the students' advocate Pratap Venugopal said.

On October 6, the Selvam trust had filed a petition in the apex court seeking interim relief from the SC's September 30 order and the HC's October 1 direction on the grounds that such a move would completely shut down the college resulting in loss of crores to the trust. The trust had pleaded before the apex court to examine if the HC overlooked rules as there was no provision to transfer students of one medical college to another under the Indian Medical Council Act 1958.

On October 1, the HC had asked the Centre, the state and MCI to shift the 124 students of two batches (2013-14 and 2014-15) to other colleges in two weeks. On September 30, the SC had observed that the students admitted in the college in 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years can be relocated to other recognized medical colleges and that the HC can proceed in that direction.