Karnataka: Plan to establish govt. medical colleges under PPP model draws flak

The All India Democratic Students Organization (AIDSO) has criticized Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil’s reported statement that the State government has proposed to set up six new government medical colleges under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

Nithin from the district said: “This proposal, announced by the minister at a press conference in Mysuru, is another step towards privatisation, commercialization and corporatisation of education, especially medical education. The PPP model is nothing but a tool for transferring public resources to private profiteers in the name of development. Such models lead to exorbitant fees, erosion of academic standards and denial of access to students from poor and middle-class backgrounds.” has led to its obstruction.” Secretary, AIDSO Mysuru.

“Education – especially medical education – is not a commodity for sale but a social right that must be provided by the government itself. The government should allocate adequate funds from public exchequer to strengthen and expand fully state-run medical institutions, rather than bowing to the dictates of corporate lobbies and others,” AIDSO said in a statement here.

AIDSO called on students, teachers and all progressive segments of society to resist this “anti-people movement” and demanded that all new medical schools be established and operated only under public ownership and democratic control.