After Monday's protests by aspiring medical students in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad over slashing of seats in three medical institutions of the State, former Chief Minister Arjun Mundaon Tuesday wrote to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan requesting him to intervene in the matter and help the students take admission in the medical colleges.
Explaining the situation of Jharkhand Munda stated in his missive that there were only three medical colleges in the State and despite his sincere efforts to set up new institutions with the help of centrally run public sector enterprises no plan had taken shape till date. "Medical Council of India (MCI) had raised the number of seats to 350 from 190 in three medical colleges of the State. Now, when admissions are going on the MCI has issued an order to slash 160 seats," Munda stated.
"It is possible that the colleges might fall short to fulfill the set parameters, but it is not so that they cannot be corrected in a given time-frame. Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) does not lack infrastructure and the other two colleges can also be improved as per the set
parameters though special campaign.
The State Government can be instructed to take suitable steps on the matter or the colleges' situation can be improved as per the MCI instruction. But, only because of some shortcomings putting questions before students' career would not be proper," Munda said.
The Opposition leader further requested the Union Minister to intervene in the matter and arrange a facility in which the MCI allows admission of the students after seeking undertaking from the State Government.