In view of the difficulties being faced in the admission of tribal students in the medical colleges of Chhattisgarh, State Tribal Welfare Minister Kedar Kashyap urged the Central Government to relax admission rules for medical colleges.

leading a delegation, Kashyap on Wednesday called on Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi and told him that as per the present norms, admission of only 32 tribal students could be made possible against the total 166 reserved seats of Chhattisgarh in medical colleges.At a time, when there is huge shortage of doctors in the tribal areas, the tribal students can solve this problem. The Central Government should consider seriously about relaxation of admission norms for them, he said.

Kanker MP Vikram Usendi, Bijapur MlA Mahesh Gagda and tribal students were part of the delegation. The Union Health Minister assured to consider the demand on receiving proposal from the Chhattisgarh Government.Kashyap said, because of the efforts of the State Government much development could be made in the education field in the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh.

Despite facing unfavourable situations, a large number of students are interested in pursuing engineering and medical education. As such, if the reserved seats of tribal students would remain vacant, it could adversely affect their willpower, he added.Kashyap urged the Union Minister to relax admission norms while looking to the challenging circumstances faced by the candidates in the State.

The Minister also demanded to open AIIMS or any other super speciality hospital of that level in Jagadalpur, in view of lack of medical facilities in the Bastar area.In conformity with the concern for Bastar area, Harsh Vardhan told the delegation to send a proposal in this regard through the State Government. He assured that the Central Government would definitely take steps in this regard.