Punjab's Govt Ayurvedic College denied nod for admissions

Ravneet Singh

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Patiala, January 1

The failure of successive governments in Punjab to recruit regular teachers at the Government Ayurvedic College, Patiala, has resulted in the institute not being able to admit students for the Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) course this year.

No regular faculty

• Permission denied by Union Health Ministry, Dept of Ayush
• First round of counselling for BAMS course had been held
• Course fee Rs 50,000 against Rs 2 lakh in private colleges

The Union Health Ministry and the Department of Ayush have denied the required permissions even as the first round of counselling for the admissions for the course had already taken place. The students, thus, are left to choose from among private colleges that charge four times the fee for the same course. Among the 16 such colleges in Punjab, the Patiala institute was the only one in the government sector. It’s the fourth time in the past decade that the college has been denied permission to admit students. Previously, the admissions were barred in 2011, 2012 and 2013 due to lack of faculty and other lapses.

In the last few years, the college was allowed permission to run the course on the condition that the anomalies would be removed. The students at the institute would have to pay Rs 50,000 for the BAMS course compared to Rs 2 lakh charged by private colleges.

“This is the fourth time the college has been denied the permission to run the course. It’s among the premier institutes of Punjab and nothing but the apathy of the successive governments is to be blamed. There are 59 sanctioned faculty posts, but only one regular teacher is available. The rest of the teachers have been hired on contract,” said a college official.

College Principal Dr Pradeep Kapil said they were working to remove the objections, including the need to hire faculty. “We are getting cooperation from the Punjab Medical Education Department and are hopeful of getting clearances to admit students soon,” he said.

Guru Ravidas Ayurved University (Hoshiarpur) Registrar Sanjeev Goyal said, “The college has various shortcomings and we are working on removing these. We have put up the case before the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) and are hopeful of a positive outcome.” Punjab Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra was not available for comment.