Govt medical colleges set to get more faculty

In what may be seen as a relief to government doctors in terms of their work load, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday directed the health department officials to increase the number of teachers in government medical colleges.

Fadnavis on Monday instructed officials to take into account the stipulated proportion of beds in hospitals and accordingly make teachers available to all medical colleges. These directions have been issued in view of providing efficient health services and to ensure optimum usage of facilities in government hospitals.

Fadnavis has asked the department to submit the report within three months time. The report will provide detailed information about availability of beds and the number of teachers and students in government medical colleges attached to government hospitals.

Minister for Medical Education Girish Mahajan said that he is following up the implementation of the Chief Minister's directives. There are more beds made available in government hospitals than the stipulated figure by the Indian Council of Health Science.

The stipulated number of students per 1,000 beds in government hospitals is 200 but in most big cities, this number often exceeds.

In Pune, BJ Medical College, which is a government medical college, has 200 students but the government-run Sassoon Hospital has 1,296 beds. Nagpur has 1,401 beds where students are 200. Aurangabad has 1,177 beds instead of the stipulated 750 beds.

THE SHORTFALL

• The stipulated number of students per 1,000 beds in government hospitals is 200 but in most big cities, this number is often higher. The CM has asked the department to submit its report within 3 months.