The state is not able to even make use of the current facilities as Malayali children travel around the world for medical studies. There aren't enough medical colleges to keep pace with the progress in the health sector. Six and a half decades after the formation of the state, the number of government medical colleges is seven! Two of these have only the name Medical College but students cannot be admitted to MBBS course. It is learned that the National Medical Council has disallowed admission to Idukki and Konni Medical Colleges this year as well due to lack of facilities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 12 medical colleges in a row in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu last month. Dozens of new medical colleges have sprung up in the last five years in UP, which is lagging far behind in healthcare. Many medical colleges were established in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka during this period. In Kerala, the number of medical seats is still limited to 4105.

Idukki Medical College was established in 2014. The following year, work began on the Konni Medical College, but the hospital began only in 2020. As it is an OP-only hospital, medical seats are not allowed. How do you describe the mismanagement of medical colleges that have not been able to provide the facilities they need for ten years? Despite the creation of a university exclusively for medical colleges, things are not going as planned. Why is it that the government is not aware of the inconsistency in the admission to government medical colleges as self-financed medical colleges which have been started since then admit students in 100-150 seats?

One of the important requirements of the Medical Council is that a two-hundred-bed hospital should be there at a medical college. At the beginning of each academic year, Idukki-Konni colleges are just one of the major problems in the medical admission process in the state. At least two hundred children would have been admitted if they had started functioning well in compliance with the Medical Council regulations. Many children have lost their opportunities due to the ignorance of the government. Medical university authorities need to investigate what they are actually doing. According to the PVC of the Health University, admission to Idukki and Konni will be allowed next year if the deficiencies are rectified.

No one from the self-financed sector is coming forward to start new medical colleges. The reason for this reluctance is that with the advent of the rank-based admission system in the general entrance examination, there is no opportunity to admit children by taking donations. If the private sector is reluctant, the government should take over the responsibility. At the same time, steps should be taken to improve the existing government medical colleges.