Govt to set up five nursing colleges in state

BANGALORE: It is akin to IT or BT boom. And, Karnataka does not want to remain out of the race.
The State cabinet''s decision to give in-principle clearance to five nursing colleges -- three in Bangalore and one each in Mysore and Mangalore -- on Monday is Karnataka''s way of responding to the global demand for nurses. The cabinet gave the clearance based on recommendations of the three-member cabinet sub-committee headed by Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, with Health and Family Welfare Minister Kagodu Thimmappa and Medical Education Minister A.B.Maalaka Raddy as its members.
So far, the demand for nurses was only from the Middle East; but now Europe, most importantly United Kingdom, and United States are also experiencing shortage. The UK alone is facing a shortfall of about 25,000 nurses, while the United States requires about 40,000 paramedical staff.
"There is an acute shortage in India because most of the trained nurses are seeking greener pastures abroad and disinclined to work in India. They either prefer Middle East, UK or USA. We are trying to meet the shortage of nurses," Higher Education minister G. Parameshwara said.
All the nursing schools are governed by the Nursing Council of India and the Karnataka Nursing Council. They are expected to meet the infrastructure requirements specified by these bodies.
Experts, however, believe that the mushrooming of nursing schools in the country has led to a fall in standards. There are 51 nursing schools in Karnataka.
The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences maintained that it is imposing rigorous restrictions on nursing schools to maintain educational standards. All the schools associated with the university are recognised and approved by the apex bodies.
"The minimum criteria we prescribe are even more stringent to those specified by the Indian Nursing Council. Secondly, we insist that the apex bodies have to give their approval before students are allowed to take an examination. Our university is the only one which insists on Indian Nursing Council''s recognition," University Registrar K.M. Sreenivasa Gowda said.