Beyond AIPMT quota: Where are the six new medical colleges promised five years ago?

MUMBAI: The state has decided to scrap the 15% quota in its medical colleges for students from the rest of the country by pulling out of the All-India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) to free seats for aspirants here, but the six medical colleges planned by it at least five years ago are yet to take off.
The new colleges would have added around 600 seats to the current pool of 2,500 seats in government and municipal corporation medical colleges.
Even after five years, the state government is struggling to put basic infrastructure in place for three of the six colleges in Chandrapur, Gondia and Baramati.
“The other three colleges proposed at Alibaug, Nandurbar and Satara are still on paper,” an official in the know of things said.
Though higher and technical education minister Vinod Tawde said the colleges at Gondia and Chandrapur would be functional next year, many said these promises are made every year.
The official said the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) had been trying to tie up with the Directorate of Heath Services to use its 100-bed district hospitals for these colleges. “Even there, the two departments have not been coming to an agreement,” the official said.
A faculty crunch is also a major problem.
“The state simply does not have enough qualified teachers for existing colleges,” a professor said. “It will be difficult to get additional people for the new ones.
DMER director Pravin Shingare said that most of the students who come from outside are from the northern states. An official said the students from outside do not even practise here. An official from the Centre claimed that there were more states planning to pull out of the AIPMT.
Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have already scrapped the all-India quota.