Uncertain status for Rudrapur & Pithoragarh Medical Colleges sparks Cong warning

PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun

Launching a scathing attack on the BJP government in the state, the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Pratima Singh said that the future of thousands of promising students hangs in the balance owing to the Pushkar Singh Dhami government’s short-sightedness,  administrative inefficiency and lack of commitment to the cause of the state they govern.  

Citing the fact that despite the commencement of the medical counselling process, the status of the Rudrapur and Pithoragarh Government Medical Colleges’ accreditation by the National Medical Commission (NMC) remains unclear. “This is an instance of criminal negligence on the part of the government. With the students’ future remaining in a limbo, their parents are anxious and anguished,” she said.

Lashing further at the Dhami government, she said that this looming uncertainty exposes the incomplete preparations of the government.  “For the past several months, the chief minister and Health minister have been patting themselves on the back while trumpeting the success regarding these two medical colleges. However, the reality is that these hospitals face a severe shortage of doctors, lack necessary infrastructure and blatantly flout the standards set by the National Medical Council. The government’s lies in promoting half-baked colleges sans proper ground level work, solely for electoral and political gains, have now been completely exposed,” Singh added.

She demanded the state government to immediately issue a white paper on the actual status of the recognition of Rudrapur and Pithoragarh medical colleges and present the truth to students. “Otherwise, a year’s washout is imminent for those students who will opt for these two medical institutions for their studies. Besides, the Health minister should resign taking moral responsibility for this betrayal of the students’ cause,” the spokesperson of the opposition party said.   She warned that if the students’ future gets jeopardised, her party would not remain an idle spectator. “If the government does not resolve this impasse and provide justice to the students within the next 24 hours, Congress will launch a robust movement against the government, from the streets to the Assembly, to protect the rights of the students and their future,” she added.