BENGALURU: In response to growing concerns about excessive fees and inadequate facilities at nursing colleges across Karnataka, the state government has started cracking down on these institutions.
Medical Education and Skill Development Minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil here on Monday announced that a fee regulatory committee will be constituted to oversee and regulate the fee structure in nursing colleges. It was necessary as a number of students complained about the exorbitant fees causing financial burden.
He also unveiled ‘One-Building One-Institution’, directing officials to ensure that nursing institutions run nursing courses exclusively. Institutions conducting multiple courses from the same building will risk losing their permission, he warned.
During a review meeting held at Vikasa Soudha, said a five-member committee, headed by the joint secretary of the Medical Education Department, will scrutinise the fees charged by nursing institutions. He instructed officials to withdraw the Essential Certificate and Feasibility Certificate (EC&FC) of colleges found charging beyond the government-prescribed limits.
The government has now set Rs 10,000 as fee for students admitted under the government quota, Rs 1 lakh under the management quota and Rs 1.40 lakh for non-Karnataka students. In all, 35,000 seats are available across 611 nursing colleges in the state.
Dr Patil recently rejected a proposal from nursing college managements to increase fees by 20 percent.
The committee will oversee both BSc Nursing and General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) diploma programmes.
The minister also directed committee head, Mohammed Moshin, who is the Principal Secretary of Medical Education Department, to arrange a meeting with deputy commissioners (DCs) to inspect the infrastructure and basic facilities at GNM colleges at taluk and district levels, with inspection reports to be submitted within a month.
For BSc Nursing colleges, Dr BL Sujatha Rathod, Director of Medical Education, was instructed to form a panel for inspection and provide a report promptly.
Dr Patil said that many nursing colleges have been found lacking in essential facilities, like adequate teaching and non-teaching staff, libraries, laboratories and hygiene standards, despite charging substantial fees. He stressed that permission for such colleges should be revoked if they are found guilty.