Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan expressed concern over slow utilisation while reviewing the progress with Health Secretaries and Directors, Medical Education, of 14 states and UTs through video conference.
He urged the states to expedite the physical completion of projects to enable commencement of UG courses by academic session 2023-24. As scheme will conclude on March 31, 2024, hence all projects need to be completed in time, he said.
"A sum of Rs 7,500 crore have been allotted for the schemes of Human Resources for Health (HRH) and Medical Education (ME) for financial year 2022-23. However, due to the slow pace of expenditure of the states/UTs and since there has been no requisition for release of funds from the states, further release of funds by the Centre to States cannot take place," Bhushan told the states.
These states were also strongly advised to regularly review the progress and urgently update the Union Ministry portal for monitoring the physical and financial progress. Union Health Secretary emphasised benefits of newer technologies that enable quick completion and also high levels of conservation of energy, as opposed to many of the conventional technologies being used in many of the projects.
A total of 157 new medical colleges have been sanctioned under this scheme since 2014, in three phases so far. The states/UTs that participated in the review meeting were A&N Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, J&K, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, and Punjab.
The states were advised to explore and use locally relevant and green technology options, and steel composite structures for the projects which are yet to start.
In his letter, Patnaik has urged the Prime Minister to intervene with the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the concerned ministries over disruption in studies of thousands of such aggrieved medical students.
The Chief Minister has suggested that steps be taken in such a way that students would be able to continue their studies from the stage where they had to quit their studies in Ukraine.
Patnaik expressed concerns over the future of the students recently evacuated back to home in the wake of Russia's military offensive in Ukraine which has caused immense devastation and forced the shutdown of all institutions in the war-torn country.
CM Patnaik wrote, "In view of the situation in Ukraine, large number of medical students from Odisha and other parts of India had to return back home. The disruption in their studies is likely to continue until the cessation of the hostilities and restoration of normalcy in their universities in Ukraine."
The letter further read, "This is an unprecedented crisis that has the potential of disrupting the careers of several thousands of young men and women who already gone through the trauma of being in the war zone."
Urging PM Modi to intervene and facilitate the continuation of studies in medical colleges, Patnaik assured to extend full support of Odisha government for implementing a workable solution for this purpose.
"Health is a state subject, and primary responsibility to ensure availability of public health facilities lies with the state government. However, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare administers a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for 'Establishment of new Medical Colleges attached with existing district and referral hospitals' with preference to under-served areas and aspirational districts where there is no existing government or private medical college," he said in the Parliament.
This step will help to improve the healthcare delivery system in these areas. In this scheme, the Central government has approved establishment of 157 new medical colleges in three phases. Out of these, 70 medical colleges have become functional till date.
Answering another question on the steps taken by the Centre for making healthcare facilities affordable for patients, he said: "To provide affordable and quality tertiary health care facilities, the government is setting up new All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) and upgrading Government Medical Colleges under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana. The state governments are also supported for setting up of new medical colleges as well as for increasing undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats."
"Further, under the National Health Mission (NHM), technical and financial support is provided to states and union territories for strengthening their healthcare systems upto district hospital level, based on the proposals submitted by them in their Program Implementation Plans (PIPs), subject to availability of resources. NHM adopts a health system approach and targets to build a network for public health facilities with health and wellness centres at the grassroot level and district hospitals, with robust referral linkage, to offer comprehensive primary and secondary care services to citizens," the minister added.
Citing an example from Kendrapara district, Baijayant highlighted that how incompetent people from neighbouring countries are coming and providing medical services, which is disconcerting.
While the government is looking at Ayurveda (AYUSH) doctors as an alternative to fill vacancies, Baijayant flagged concerns saying that Ayurveda is a different approach to treatment. Ayurveda is mostly used as a preventive measure and an Ayurveda doctor cannot administer Allopathy treatment, he added.
Hence, more and more number of medical colleges is a permanent solution to doctor shortage, said Baijayant while welcoming the restructuring of MCI.
In response to Baijayant, the concerned minister said the problem highlighted is definitely concerning and required steps will be taken in this regard.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey informed that 13,004 MBBS seats have been added in the last three years to the 479 medical colleges in the country.
A one-time increase in PG seats was permitted this year after the revision of teacher student ratio. In all, over 5,800 PG seats have been added this year as a step to increase the availability of faculty and specialist doctors in the country.
Besides, the government is implementing a centrally-sponsored scheme for the establishment of new medical colleges. The colleges will be attached with district/referral hospitals in 58 under- served districts in 20 states and union territories, said the Minister
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There are other centrally sponsored schemes for increasing under-graduate seats and post-graduate seats in the existing government medical colleges, he added.
On State level counselling...
A tentative schedule of counselling and available seats has been notified on our website. We recommend students to wait till the time we publish a full-fledged schedule and the detailed process of counselling. Tentatively, we are planning to start the registration process from July 15.
On NEET-qualified students from State...
For NIT-qualified students, Government of India has a 15% quota for government seats. The rest 85% have to be filled up through counselling by States. For the time being the NEET-qualified students of the State should be aware that they can register for 15 % All-India government seats quota across all colleges on the website -www.mcc.nic.in/. Similarly, students can apply for all the deemed universities of the country on the website separately. The registrations for these have already begun, so interested students can apply separately for government seats and deemed university seats. For the rest 85% seats, in case of Odisha, registration process will tentatively start from July 15.
On dilemma over NEET & State counselling...
This issue is currently governed by the guidelines of the Supreme Court. As per the court guidelines all the state counselling can only proceed after the National-level counselling. Those who get selected into Government of India colleges and take admissions are not eligible to participate in any other counselling. Hence, parents and students should decide as to which counselling they want to participate and the colleges.
Restrictions pertaining to counselling & admissions?
There are absolutely no restrictions as far as registrations into the various counselling goes. The restriction will apply in case a student takes part in a particular counselling and takes admission on being selected in the same. One taken admission, he/she cannot take part in other counselling. The norm followed here is that if a student takes admission in a particular medical college, he/she should not look forward to block seats elsewhere. Students should be disciplined enough.
Recommendations to students...
The advantage of online counselling is that a student can take part in the process to assess his eligibility for colleges. If a student is satisfied then go ahead with admission. If not satisfied don’t take admission so that other options remain open. If a student is not happy with the All-India allotment then he is recommended not to take admission.
How students will know their ranks for State counselling?
Once the registrations for the State-conducted counselling are over, we will come out with the NEET mark and the All-India ranks for registered students only so that they can compare.
For registration, candidates can log into the website of the Medical Counselling Committee which is conducting the counselling.
The process of registration and choice filling of subjects will continue till 5PM of July 11. On July 12, choices of the students will be locked and seat allotments will be done on July 13 and July 14.
The results of the counselling will be announced on July 15 following which students will have to report at their colleges from July 16 and July 22 (5PM).
The second phase of registrations will begin from August 1.
Conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), around 35,000 from Odisha had appeared the NEET. The results of the test were declared on June 23.
Krishansis Dash of Odisha has secured an all India rank of 28 in NEET 2017.
The Health department has notified the Skill Development and Technical Education department about the decision which will leave colleges with only 15% seats for which they can conduct their own counselling. Such a step has been taken is in pursuant with the guidelines to the central government guidelines.
“As we have received instructions from the Central government we are forced to implement it. We have taken a decision to that we will conduct counselling in the 85% of the seats under State Quota. We have already informed the concerned department and the OJEE and DMET authorities will act accordingly,” informed additional secretary of Health department, Surjit Das.
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Many feel that this step will rein in arbitrary practices in terms of the collecting fees and also conducting admissions by private medical colleges and deemed universities.
From the current academic session, common counselling will be conducted for MBBS and BDS seats in private medical colleges. The seats will be filled up based on the All-India entrance examination ranks. However, the admission fees are yet to be finalized for the colleges.
“In cases where we need clarifications on various aspects to implement the rules, we will discuss it with the State government and we will clarify the students everything prior to commencement of the admission process,” said OJEE chairman, Tushar Kumar Nath.
The Central government has already sent a letter making it mandatory to have common counselling for admission to Under Graduate and Post Graduate courses in all medical institutions.
In a letter sent to all principal secretaries of States and Union Territories, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare noted, “There shall be no exemption from common counselling and all institutions including private medical colleges/ Deemed Universities shall be covered under it.”
Also Read: Odisha govt to regulate counselling for admissions into all…
“The Government of India has given clear instructions on March 10 that the MBBS and BDS admissions will be conducted through common counselling. In this regard, there is no clarity on the percentages to be considered for deemed universities. So, we will wait for the State government to take a clear decision and conduct the counselling likewise,” said OJEE chairman Tushar Kumar Nath.
In an earlier notification the Centre had asked the State governments that they may preferably conduct common counselling for all medical colleges for admissions into PG courses. However, the State government did not go for common counselling and the deemed universities conducted their own counselling to fill up the seats.
“This is an opportunity for the Odisha government to implement this step which will benefit the students,” says educationist, Pritish Acharya.
“The counselling was earlier done for both private and government medical colleges. But this year, state authorities will also do the counselling for the medical colleges under the deemed universities,” said Joint Director, Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET), Umakant Satpathy.
As per plans, the state counselling authority shall conduct the combined counselling including the 50 percent seats of medical colleges under the deemed universities.
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According to a government notification, “The state quota seats shall be filled up by way of counselling from amongst the candidates whose names will figure in the PG (Medical) 2017 State Merit List. Similarly, the seats of the deemed universities shall be filled by way of counselling from amongst the candidates whose name will appear in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) PG 2017 All India Merit List.”
The state government is keen to follow the same format not only for PG courses but also for admissions into MBBS and BDS courses. The move is expected to bring uniformity and the course fees, which have been a cause of concern students as well as their guardians, charged by such private medical institutions can be regulated.
Earlier, the Medical Council of India (MCI) had also issued guidelines for streamlining and bringing transparency in medical admissions in the country.
“This will bring transparency as the government will do the counselling of both private and deemed universities which will be in accordance of the Supreme Court and MCI directions,” said additional secretary of Health department, Surajit Das.
Educationist Sudarshan Das said that the move is expected to curb the commercialisation of medical education as well as other irregularities.
Padhi who was chairing a review meeting of the Works department also took stock of the under construction Trisulia Bridge on Mahanadi River and 5 medical colleges. Providing an update on the construction of medical colleges Balasore, Baripada, Bolangir and Koraput, he said that the department is targeting to complete these four colleges by the end of this year.
The Chief Secretary informed that the department has satisfactorily completed all the required works as compared to last year.
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Padhi also reviewed the Biju Expressway project along with the land acquisition pertaining to various road projects.
“We had a general overview of the Works department. As compared to last year, the expenditure of the department is quite high this year. We hope to achieve all the targets of the department by March. We also reviewed the construction of Gurupriya and Mahanadi Trisulia bridges. There are five medical colleges under construction across the state. Almost all the projects are on schedule. We also discussed on ways to address the slippages,” said Padhi.
The decisions are part of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), which has been extended by two years till 2020, with a financial outlay of Rs 14,832 crore, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters while briefing on the cabinet decisions.
"Under this (PMSSY), we are going to set up 20 AIIMS in the country, six have already been established, and would upgrade 73 medical colleges. This is a historic decision," said the Union Law and Information Technology Minister.
The decision to extend the PMSSY was aimed to meet the shortfall in healthcare professionals and facilities across the country.
"Setting up of new AIIMS would not only transform health education and training but also address the shortfall of healthcare professionals in the region... Setting up of new AIIMS in various states will lead to employment generation for nearly 3,000 people in various faculty and non-faculty posts in each of the AIIMS," said an official statement.
The construction of new AIIMS will be fully funded by the Central government. It will also bear the operations and maintenance expenses of these facilities.
The upgradation programme broadly envisages improving health infrastructure through construction of super specialty blocks, trauma centres and others, according to the statement.
The procurement of medical equipment for existing as well as new facilities will be done on sharing basis by both Central and state governments.
"PMSSY was started during the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee to provide quality healthcare in remote areas as it's not right to put all the pressure on AIIMS in Delhi. There were talks of setting up six AIIMS. But what happened in the next 10 years is for all to see," said Prasad.
Of this, eight medical colleges have already started functioning in last three years, while the remaining 50 would be made functional by 2019-20.
The Cabinet also gave approval for establishment of 24 additional Government Medical Colleges by 2021-22, in identified under-served areas across Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Sikkim. The decision was part of 2018-19 Union Budget.
In addition, the Cabinet approved continuation and completion of scheme for setting up of 112 Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery Schools (ANM) and 136 General Nursing Midwifery (GNM) schools by 2019-20 in the underserved areas.
To increase the availability of qualified doctors, it also gave approval for increase of 10,000 MBBS seats by 2020-21 and 8,058 PG seats by 2020-21.
"The scheme on establishment of new medical colleges (58+24) would lead to addition of another 8,200 MBBS seats in the country. The proactive steps taken by the government to increase the number of qualified doctors in the country, has already added nearly 13,000 MBBS seats and 7,000 PG medical since 2014-15," said the statement.
The Cabinet aims to create additional manpower especially focussing on increasing government seats in the under-served or un-served areas to make medical education more affordable for general public, bridge the provider-patient ratio to attain Sustainable Development Goals and meet WHO standards.
The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, while issuing notice to the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, said the state administration should ensure that no agitation takes place in relation to NEET that has been upheld by the constitution bench of the top court.
The court directed the Advocate General of Tamil Nadu to be present in the court on the next date of hearing on September 18 to assist the court in the matter.
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The court order came on a PIL moved by top court lawyer G.S. Mani seeking the court's intervention in the matter.
Seventeen-year-old Dalit student S. Anitha committed suicide in Tamil Nadu on September 1 as she could not score high marks in the NEET to secure a medical seat.
Following her suicide, political parties and student organisations held protests and shouted slogans on September 2 against the state and central governments.
Anitha, daughter of a daily labourer, hailed from a village in Ariyalur district in Tamil Nadu. She had scored 1,176 out of 1,200 in her Class 12 State Board examinations.
In the state capital here, Dalit party VCK and CPI-M held protests.
Security was beefed up at the BJP office here upon hearing that a social organisation would protest outside it. Security was also increased at the Marina Beach here in order to prevent protests.
Protests were held in Tirunelveli district by CPI-M.
According to reports, protests were held by students and youth in Coimbatore, Vellore, Villupuram, and several other places in the state. In Ariyalur, shops have downed their shutters.
Anitha, daughter of a daily labourer, hails from a village in Ariyalur district. She had scored 1,176 out of 1,200 in her Class 12 State Board examinations.
She had approached the court against the common entrance exam for medical colleges NEET, arguing that it would affect the prospects of poor students from rural areas from getting a medical seat.
She couldn't score high marks in the NEET to secure a medical seat, and committed suicide on Friday, her relatives said.
Her death united Tamil Nadu's opposition parties in condemning the Chief Minister K. Palaniswami government and also the BJP-led central government.
The Health ministry had in April wrote to the director of NIT-Rourkela to submit a project proposal for establishment of a medical college and hospital with advanced research facility at the institution.
It also sought a proposal between June 15 and July 7, but no application was submitted by the institution citing lack of infrastructure for the purpose.
“We received a letter from the HRD Ministry that under the NIT Act, we are not authorized to award medical degrees,” said NIT registrar SK Upadhyay, adding that a proposal for an alternate medical research centre is there but it is still under the consideration of the institute’s board.
While it is alleged that lack of coordination among the two ministries is creating the problem, some accused that the Centre is intentionally delaying the matter to mislead people.
“Establishment of medical college is not possible in NIT. We had earlier told the same. The Centre is trying to mislead people for the sake of votes,” alleged BJD leader, Anand Chandra.
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Congress’ Birendra Senapati also lashed out at the NDA-led Central government accusing it of misleading people of Rourkela for political gains.
However, BJP leader Nihar Ray blamed NIT authorities for the ambiguity over the matter and alleged that the NIT failed to provide relevant documents.
“The HRD Ministry just informed about the norms but that doesn’t mean Rourkela will be deprived of a medical college,” added Ray.
The new medical colleges would be established at Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Puri, Bolangir, Balasore, Kalahandi and Keonjhar, Patnaik said while addressing the annual conference of Odisha Medical Services Association.
While admission in the new medical colleges at Koraput and Mayurbhanj would be made this year, effort was on to admit students in other colleges next year, he said.
As many as 837 new doctors were expected to be recruited in the state soon through Odisha Public Service Commission, said the chief minister.
In addition to the seven medical colleges, Health Minister Pradeep Kumar Amat said, two hospitals were expected to be set up by central PSUs.
"We hope the shortage of doctors in the state will be met when all these colleges start functioning," Amat said.
Presently there are three government and five privately-managed medical colleges in the state. Government medical colleges are running at Berhampur, Burla and Cuttack.
We are now taking steps to set up nine more medical colleges with 100 seats each in different parts of the state, state health Secretary P K Mohapatra said.
While four district headquarters hospitals - Balangir, Balasore, Koraput and Mayurbhanj would be elevated to medical colleges, tender would be floated soon to invite the promoters to set up medical colleges in Gajapati and Rayagada districts in public-private partnership mode, he said.
The government has already signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for establishing a medical college at Sundargarh, while an MoU would be signed soon with Mahanadi Coal Ltd (MCL) and private promoter for setting up medical colleges at Talcher and Chandipur in Nayagarh district, he stated.
The government would provide 25 acres of land and viable funds to the selected promoters for establishment of medical college in Gajapati and Rayagada districts, he said.
But the promoters must have experience in the field of medical education.
Besides these, he said MBBS seats in MKCG Medical College, Berhampur and VSS Medical College, Burla would be increased from 150 to 250 from next year. MBBS seat in SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack was increased to 250 last year.
A team from Medical Council of India (MCI) is likely to visit the state in June to inspect the infrastructure facilities in these medical colleges, he said adding steps have been taken to improve the infrastructure facilities in both the colleges.
In order to improve the quality of education in Bihar, Nitish Kumar said that his government is trying to set up more number of Medical and Engineering colleges in the state, and simultaneously the 33 percent seat reservation for girl students will also be ensured.
The Chief Minister emphasized that the move will increase the number of girl students in the colleges and also motivate girls to attain higher education in the state. He further said that the decision is aimed at providing higher education within the state so that students don’t have to migrate to pursue higher studies.
Nitish Kumar mentioned that the state is already establishing more number of Medical and Engineering Colleges in all districts for the same.
Officials of the state health and medical education departments said they are likely to receive the letter of permission from the Medical Council of India (MCI) soon for admission to the four medical colleges.
Four hundred seats for the bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery would be filled in these colleges with each of them admitting 100 students during the admission process for the year 2019-2020.
The four new medical colleges have been set up in Anantnag, Baramulla, Kathua and Rajouri districts of the state.
Officials said addition of 400 MBBS seats will take the total number of seats available each year in all medical colleges in J&K to 900.
50 per cent seats in each medical college would be reserved for female candidates.
The state government has submitted the required undertakings of the colleges and shall also communicate to the Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) for increasing 400 seats in new medical colleges, one each in Anantnag, Baramulla, Rajouri and Kathua districts, they said.
The recruitment of staff and faculty for these medical colleges has been done in a transparent manner after inviting applications through a web portal, officials said.
The Joint Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET), Prof Umakanta Satpathy has written to the Deans and Principals of different medical colleges to apply to the Medical Council of India (MCI) by June 7 for an increase in number of seats as the final decision relating to the increase in seats lies with the Council.
Once approved by the MCI, in SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, 25 seats will be increased in undergraduate courses for the 2019-20 academic session whereas number of seats in post graduate courses of different departments will be increased by 26 for 2020-21 academic year.
A total of 25 seats will be increased for UG courses in MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur whereas VIMSAR in Burla will get an additional 15 seats.
Similarly, an increase of 10 seats each for UG courses in Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital in Koraput, Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital in Bolangir, Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital in Baripada and Fakir Mohan Medical College and Hospital in Balasore will take place.
According to official sources, the admissions have been allowed for 100 seats each in Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital at Koraput, Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital at Baripada, Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital at Balangir and Fakir Mohan Medical College and Hospital in Balasore.
While this will be the second batch for Balasore and Bolangir medical colleges; Koraput and Baripada colleges would carry out admissions for the third batch.
The MCI has granted the permission for admission to MBBS course of the colleges for the current academic year 2019-20. The permission is valid for a period of one year and would be renewed on yearly basis by the MCI.
The next batch of students will be admitted after renewal of permissions by the MCI, sources said.
With the admission approval to the four colleges, the total number of medical seats in the seven government medical colleges in Odisha has gone up to 1150.
In a letter to the Director of Medical Education and Ex-officio Secretary, more than 70 doctors of R.G. Kar Medical College submitted their resignations. AAs per informed sources, the number of doctors putting their papers down is rising steadily.
"We the following doctors of R.G. Kar Medical College have so far been trying our level best to run the hospital service smoothly. You are aware that the present situation is not ideal for patient care service," the doctors wrote.
"In response to the prevailing situation, as we are unable to provide service, we the following doctors would like to resign from our duty," they wrote in the letter.
Also, nearly 100 doctors of the NRS Medical College and Hospital - the epicentre of the protests are also opting for resignation, an official revealed.
In a similar letter to the Director of Medical Education, 17 doctors of Medicine Department of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital have put their papers down. They too cited the same reason that they are unable to provide services in the present situation.
A similar picture was noticed in North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri.
"Already 15 senior doctors have submitted their resignation to Director of Medical Education and this figure may rise. It is not possible to carry on the services normally without the junior doctors," Sudipta Mandal, Assistant Superintendent of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital said as the cease work by the Junior doctors of state-run hospital entered the fourth day.
The protest began at the state-run NRS Hospital on Tuesday morning bringing the regular services to a standstill, after a junior doctor was allegedly beaten up by the kin of a 75-year-old patient who died there late on Monday night.
The family members of the deceased patient alleged medical negligence. An intern named Paribaha Mukherjee sustained a serious skull injury in the attack and was admitted in the intensive care unit of the Institute of Neurosciences.
With improvement in his condition, Mukherjee has been shifted to the general bed and will be released from the hospital soon.
The NEET is held for admission to MBBS, BDS and other such courses in medical colleges. Those who clear the written entrance exam are called for counselling, for which the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) started a registration fee of Rs 1,000 in 2018-19.
Replying to a RTI query by Neemuch-based activist Chandrashekhar Gaud, the Union Health Ministry said that from the 114,198 students, who registered themselves for counselling in 2018-19, a total of Rs 18,32,87,500 was collected as registration amount.
Of this, Rs 2,76,78614 were spent on conducting the counselling. The MCC deposited the remaining amount of Rs 15,56,08,886 in the Central government's account.
The Health Ministry also informed Gaud that the MCC decided to impose the registration fee on the advice of the Health and Family Welfare Department.
Gaud said the amount collected by the government as registration fee in 2018-19 and the interest earned on it was enough to conduct the counselling process for the next several years, and the government must therefore think about putting an end to the registration fee.
Earlier, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry in a communication to the state government informed it to increase 25 MBBS seats each in Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital in Baripada and Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital in Koraput.
These two medical colleges will now take 125 students under MBBS course instead of their earlier capacity of 100 seats.
Similarly, 50 additional MBBS seats have been approved for Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Burla. With this, the total intake of the college has gone up to 200 against existing 150 seats.
"After careful consideration of the above recommendation, Government of Odisha have been pleased to reserve 10 per cent seats for EWS for taking admission in the above three medical colleges which shall be over and above the existing reservations as mentioned by the department earlier," a notification issued by the Health and Family Welfare department said.
As SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack and MKCG in Berhampur are already having 250 seats each, the intakes cannot be increased further as per Medical Council of India (MCI) norms, sources said.
The candidates, who have cleared NEET UG 2019 can complete registration process at mcc.nic.in. The registration will be closed on August 15.
After completion of the registration process, candidates can choose the college as per their wish and seats will be allotted based on marks obtained and preference. While the choice filling will be allowed from 10 am to 5 pm on August 16, the result of seat allocation will be displayed on August 19.
Selected candidates will have to report at the allotted university with original documents between August 20 and 26; failing which candidature will be cancelled.
NEET UG admissions 2019: Documents required
– Copy of downloaded NEET admit card
– NEET 2019 mark sheet
– Nationality certificate/valid passport or school leaving certificate of HSC/ class 12 indicating the nationality of the candidate as “Indian”
– Latest education certificates
NEET UG admissions 2019: How to complete registration
Step 1: Visit the official website, mcc.nic.in
Step 2: On the homepage, click on ‘new registration’
Step 3: Fill details, verify using email id or phone number
Step 4: Fill the form, make choices
Step 5: Make payment
The transfer of non-reporting and non-joining vacant seats to the deemed/central universities/ESIC for mop-up will be done on August 27, as per the schedule. The counselling process for more than 7 lakh candidates who qualified the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2019 had begun in June.
The candidates, who have cleared NEET UG 2019 can now complete the registration process by August 18. Earlier, after starting the registration for NEET mop-up round on August 14, MCC had set the deadline of August 15.
Interested and eligible candidates can apply at the official website, mcc.nic.in.
Candidates need to fill in their choice of college and course in order of preference under the choice locking facility link for which will be available between 3 pm to 6 pm on August 18. As per the revised schedule, the allotment of seats will be based on the merit and choice and will be declared on August 20.
NEET mop-up counselling 2019: Registration procedure
Step 1: Visit the official website, mcc.nic.in
Step 2: On the homepage, click on ‘new registration’
Step 3: Fill details, verify using email id or phone number
Step 4: Fill the form, make choices
Step 5: Make payment
Candidates selected in the final list will have to report at the allotted university of college with original documents from August 21 to 26 failing which candidature will be cancelled. Candidates should bring their original documents along with them for verification.
The transfer of non-reporting and non-joining vacant seats to the deemed/central universities/ESIC for mop-up will be done on August 27, as per the schedule. The counselling process for more than 7 lakh candidates who qualified the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2019 had begun in June.
According to the notification released on the official website, several seats are lying vacant in Aligarh Muslim University, IP University and Delhi University. A separate list of candidates for admission in the ESIC (Employees' State Insurance Corporation) medical institute has also been released.
"All the NEET Under Graduate (MBBS/BDS) aspirant candidates are hereby informed that counseling for All India Quota seats/ Institutional Quota/ Domicile (internal candidates) of Central Universities (Aligarh Muslim University/ Banaras Hindu University/ University of Delhi/Faculty of Dentistry, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi), (wards of ESIC insured persons) seats of colleges under Employee State Insurance Corporation and Armed Forces Medical College, Pune for the Under graduate session 2019-20 will be conducted by Medical Counseling Committee/ Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India," the notification in the website reads.
Allotment of seats are done under the central and state-wise counselling for admission to MBBS and BDS courses; 15 % seats are granted via central counselling conducted by the MCC.
Earlier this month, the result of the mop-up round for admission to undergraduate courses in medical colleges across India was declared by the MCC. In the final list, as many as 2004 candidates secured seats in the medical colleges across India.
Candidates selected in the final list were asked to report at the allotted university of college with original documents from August 21 to 26.
The counselling process for more than 7 lakh candidates who qualified the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2019 had begun in June.
For next year, the National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, the entrance examination for admission to undergraduate MBBS and BDS courses, on May 3, 2020 (Sunday). As per reports, the application process will begin from December 2 and will be closed on December 31. All the interested candidates can apply at the website— ntaneet.nic.in.
Educational institutions in the country have been closed since March in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter to the chief secretaries and the administrators of all states and Union Territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan also suggested making non-COVID beds available in sufficient numbers in affiliated medical college-hospitals to facilitate undergraduate training.
The Health Ministry has obtained concurrence from the Ministry of Home Affairs for re-opening of medical colleges, the letter mentioned.
Accordingly, the states and UTs may take necessary steps to open the medical colleges on or before December 1, 2020, the health secretary said in his letter dated November 25.
Needless to say, all SOPs/guidelines with respect to social distancing and prevention of spread of epidemic issued by Central/states and UT governments will be followed scrupulously by all the colleges, he said.
The Centre's directive comes in the wake of the National Medical Commission recommending reopening of medical colleges from December 1 or before it for the MBBS students already pursuing their courses.
The NMC, which has received representations from students and medical colleges, noted that the current batch of interns (2020) have not completed their required clinical training and unless they do it, they would not be eligible for appearing for the PG-NEET exam.
It also noted that the PG-NEET exam for the academic year 2021-22 has been delayed as the eligible candidates will be completing their training late.
Their training is required to be completed at the earliest so that the PG -NEET exam for the academic year 2021-22 can be held accordingly, it said.
"Delay in resuming the training would have a cascading effect on training of next PG and super-speciality courses in the coming years," the NMC noted.
"The delayed new academic session for 2020-21 should commence from February 1, 2021. The new PG session for the academic year 2020-21 should begin from at least July 1, 2021 and therefore the PG-NEET exam for AY 2020-21 would need to be scheduled around March-April 2021," the NMC said in a communique to the Health Ministry on November 12.
With opening of medical colleges and to facilitate UG training, all medical colleges affiliated hospitals would need to have sufficient number of beds for non-COVID patients and hence facilities for both outpatient and inpatient management for non-COVID patients must be re-started, if not already done, the NMC stated.
Further, it noted that the students today (and would-be doctors tomorrow) should also be familiar with the inherent threats and opportunities in healthcare systems which they would eventually handle themselves.
It should not become a missed opportunity for medical students to learn the skills of epidemic management as public health professional, the NMC said.
(PTI)
Covid-19 safety protocols will have to be followed in the medical institutes.
“All medical colleges of the state shall reopen with effect from 1st December, 2020. Medical college authorities shall follow all the SOPs/guidelines with respect to social distancing and prevention of spread of epidemic issued by the Central/State Government, scrupulously,” a government order said on Monday
The government asked the School and Mass Education Department to consult all stakeholders and decide on the date of re-opening of schools for classes from 9 to 12 in a graded manner.
Similarly, the Department of Higher Education was also authorised to take the decision about re-opening of colleges and higher education institutes in consultation with the relevant stakeholders, the order said.
It said that all academic, technical, skill development institutions - except medical colleges - will remain closed till December 31 or till such date as decided by the departments concerned.
Notwithstanding the closure of these institutes, the authorities can conduct examinations, evaluate answer papers and carry out other administrative activities, the order said adding that online distance learning shall be permitted and encouraged.
It said that all Anganwadi Centres will remain closed till December 31, and the arrangement for supply of ration to the beneficiaries must continue.
On the opening of places of worship, the order said, “Local authorities like district magistrates, municipal commissioners may permit public worship in religious/ places of worship with appropriate restrictions, based on local assessment of the situation with regard to spread of Covid- 19.”
Cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment complexes, theatre, auditorium and similar places will continue to remain closed. However, open air theatres were allowed to function subject to compliance of safety protocols such as mandatory face masks and physical distancing.
Large meetings of members of associations, clubs, institutions and other organisations should be avoided till December 31, it said.
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Centre Asks States To Take Steps To Reopen Medical Colleges Before Dec 1
So far, the consent letters have been given to as many as 11 medical colleges and 60 nursing colleges.
According to the government spokesman, the varsity is being built at the cost of over Rs 200 crore, for which the government has made available 50 acres of land for the construction. An administrative block will also be built in an area of 20 acres.
In the first phase of the ABVMU, other medical colleges will be offered affiliation. In this regard, the draft has been created by the institute and concerned authorities. The second phase will include admissions of the MBBS students.
Vice-Chancellor Dr. A.K. Singh stated that a grand auditorium will be set up in the campus, in which 2,500 people can sit at a time. The university is also planning to provide accommodation for Vice Chancellor, doctors, officers, and other employees on the campus.
With the establishment of Atal Medical University, the path of affiliation of medical colleges, paramedical colleges, dental, and nursing colleges will become easier.
It is to be mentioned that the university will also work in the area of 'Affiliation, Assessment, Admission, Enrolment' for all medical courses.