MCI team to visit Gandhi Hospital

State still not clear ABOUT getting MORE medical seats BH Ramakrishna Even after a year, the State Government is still not clear on getting additional medical seats. A special inspection team from the Medical Council of India (MCI) has already completed its assessment of Osmania Medical College a week back and will be visiting Gandhi Hospital on March 22 and 23. It will also visit the MGM College at Warangal either with the fortnight. Though government exudes confidence of getting a minimum of 300 additional seats this year, the MCI has kept the officials on tenterhooks. Sources said MCI was rather dissatisfied with tardy pace of works of upgradation of infrastructure at OMC and officials were not hundred percent sure of getting the fifty additional seats for the next academic year. "They have not revealed their mind. We are optimistic"- was the cryptic remark of Dr Vishnu Prasad, Director Medical Education told The Hans India. Some of the MCI officials who went round Osmania General Hospital were upset with the pathetic conditions there and reportedly grilled officials over lack of basic facilities and what could medicos learn with such substandard facilities. Officials were learnt to have shown the latest equipment and construction works but the central team was displeased over it. But, the state government officials have been expecting a positive outcome, going by last year's bitter experience and also on the ground that the state High Court directed it to increase the number of seats. Officials were confident of getting additional fifty seats at Tirupathi medical college and also at Gandhi, without any hitch. But as far as MGM is concerned, things appear to have been thorny. Since the pace of work and appointment of faculty at the new medical college at Nizamabad, government is cock sure of getting 100 seats. With regard to Nellore Medical College, MCI has already expressed satisfaction and is ready to give its nod once everything will be in the pipeline. "We told Chief Minister N Kirankumar Reddy at a recent review meeting that we would get the additional 300 seats. By the time, MCI makes up its mind, we can complete all our works and that's what we have been trying to impress upon the MCI officials," Dr Vishnu Prasad claimed. Four government colleges viz AMU, Siddartha, Kurnool and Tirupathi will any way get extra seats as their assessment was over and a positive outcome is expected, he added. As the EAMCET and NEET are just forty days away, it's really worrying that clarity is still not there, an official of Ministry of Medical Education said. "If a negative result is slapped on us like last year from MCI, we fear there would be a political uproar and we don't know what will happen," the official said.