Health and Family Welfare minister T. S. Singhdeo said if the Medical Council of India permits and the High Court orders, students from the zero-year private medical college, such as the Durg based Chandulal Chandrakar Medical College, will be shifted.

Answering to a query raised by Durg MLA Arun Vora on Tuesday, he emphasized that already all the government colleges have specific number of seats within the restricted limits of infrastructure and if additional students are added it would further put pressure on it. Minister assured to protect the rights of students as per norms.

Arun Vora had sought details of total number of seats in both government and private medical colleges in the state and in which colleges the zero-year was declared due to lack of faculty and other basic infrastructure and how many colleges are linked with district hospitals. Is there any plan to open Medical college in 550- bed district hospital, Durg? He further asked.

Minister in the reply had stated there are six government medical colleges having total 770 seats and three private colleges having around 450 seats. Medical college Raipur has 118 post graduate seats, CIMS Bilaspur has 6 post graduate and Jagdalpur has 6 DNB seats.

He further stated that in year 2017 Government Medical College Ambikapur and Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Medical College, Durg was declared zero year, in 2018, Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Medical College, Durg, Shri Shankracharya Institute of Medical Science, Bhilai and Raipur Institute of Medical Science, Raipur and in year 2019, Government Medical College Ambikapur and Chandulal Chandrakar Medical College Durg were declared as zero year.

Three district hospitals of Raigarh, Rajnandgaon and Ambikapur are linked to medical colleges, he added.

In Durg, as the prescribed 25-acre of land is not available, it will not be possible to open a new college.

Former CM Ajit Jogi forwarded suggestion for adjusting zero year students to government colleges like in other states to save future of students when state is already facing shortage of doctors.