NIRF rankings: No government medical college from Karnataka makes the cut

BENGALURU: No government medical college from Karnataka figures in the rankings announced by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) recently. Interestingly, the state produces 2,500 doctors every year, one of the highest in the country.
Though many candidates have cleared the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and chosen to study in Karnataka institutions, none of the 16 government medical colleges has applied for the ranking process.According to sources, state-run medical colleges don’t meet the infrastructure criteria needed to even apply for the rankings. The list was released on April 8.
The parameters for ranking were teaching, learning and resources; research and professional practice; graduation outcome; outreach & inclusivity and perception. NIRF, which was constituted in 2015 by the ministry of human resources development, has been ranking institutions since 2016.
5 pvt colleges make a mark
This year, the ranks have been released in nine categories- overall, universities, engineering, colleges, management, pharmacy, medical, architecture and law.

Under the medical institution category, five private colleges from Karnataka have been given ranks. They are: Kasturba Medical College, Manipal (7), St. John’s Medical College, Bengaluru (12), Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru (16), JSS Medical College (17), MS Ramaiah Medical College (27).
According to officials, one of the few government medical colleges from the state which could have applied was Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI).
“Though Karnataka has 16 government colleges, we’re yet to have the first batch of students coming from colleges of Karwar, Kodagu, Koppal, Kalaburagi, Chamarajanagar and Gadag. One criteria will be placements of the alumni in good institutions across the world. I’m not sure whether some of the oldest medical colleges have applied for the ranking,” said Dr S Sacchidanand, vice-chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS). According to him, infrastructure is not an issue and there is scope for improvement in government colleges.
“There are certain issues with infrastructure and staff pattern at all government medical colleges in Karnataka. Government colleges in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hubballi and Ballari are the oldest. For the past two years, we’ve been focusing on medical colleges in Hubballi and Ballari to improve their standards,” said Dr PG Girish, dean, department of medical education. He said the matter will be further reviewed.