Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Health Department has decided to start nursing colleges in five medical colleges, including two which have presently no in-patient facility and are yet to acquire land.
An in-principle decision was taken to start nursing colleges at Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Palakkad, Wayanad, and Kasaragod medical colleges, an order issued by the department said.
The measure is part of the State Government’s plan to start 25 nursing colleges for which a budgetary allocation of Rs 20 crore was made.
The functioning of Wayanad and Kasaragod Medical Colleges will commence as and when the National Medical Commission accords sanction, the order said.
The construction works of Kasaragod Medical College have reached nowhere. Only if the in-patient treatment facility is extended can the nod of the National Medical Commission be sought. In Wayanad, not even the land for the medical college has been acquired so far.
No affiliation without UGC-scale salary
The Kerala Nursing Council has decided not to renew the affiliation of those private nursing colleges that fail to provide UGC-scale salaries to teachers. The Indian Nursing Council, in a recent order, made it clear that the private sector should also pay salaries, matching the UGC-scale pay extended to government nursing college teachers.
Presently, most colleges give only a maximum salary of Rs 25,000, not even half of the UGC-fixed rate. The private sector owns 120 out of the total 150 nursing colleges in the state. They employ nearly 3,000 teachers.
As per the assessment of the Nursing council, if a college provides admission to 50 students, it could turn profitable in eight years.
Recently, teachers of a private nursing college at Thiruvananthapuram who joined a private college in Uttar Pradesh were offered a salary of Rs 80,000 besides accommodation facilities.