Hyderabad: The state government has tightened norms for setting up private dental colleges and has rejected the applications submitted by about 55 institutions for 2013-14, as they have no plans to set up attached hospitals.
Essentiality certificate has been issued to only one dental college promoted by the Malla Reddy group so far, which has its own medical college and a hospital.
The 55-plus college managements that had submitted applications now allege foul play over the change in norms at this stage. They said that as per the norms prescribed by the Dental Council of
India (DCI), a dental college can be allowed only if it is attached to a medical college situated within a 10-km radius.
Medical education department officials say that as per the latest DCI norms, an attached hospital is a must for approving a dental college.
The move is intended to check sub-standard dental colleges and ill-equipped hospitals mushrooming across the country. Most private dental and nursing colleges in the state do not have their own hospitals, but are attached to government hospitals.
The managements argue they had already spent about Rs 10 crore each to purchase land, construct college buildings, provide infrastructure and hire teachers.
They said that denying approvals to them at this state was unfair.
The managements have submitted representations to minister for medical education Kondru Murali and principal secretary Ratna Kishore. Officials say that a medical college’s attachment to a hospital is necessary to enable students to attend surgery and medicine classes.
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