Raipur, Chhattisgarh: Health Minister TS Singh Deo has outrightly rejected the demand of zero percent admission to fill seats in private nursing colleges. The Health Minister said that the nursing colleges have been inspected by the department. The quality of teaching and training in most of the private nursing colleges is very poor. The situation is so worse that the nursing personnel does not even know how to inject properly, he said.

TS Singh Deo said that by opening nursing colleges indiscriminately, recruiting students without proper qualifications, and charging hefty fees, the fate of private nursing colleges can be ruined. However, when it comes to life and death in hospitals, the lives of patients can also be risky under such nursing staff.

Singh Deo said that the state already has more nursing staff than required, and they are not getting jobs. On top of that, the admission percentage cannot be made worse by making it zero. The Health Minister made it clear that the first priority of the state government is to provide quality health services. They can’t make the situation worse by giving relaxation in admission.

Apparently, out of the 7,026 seats of BSC Nursing seats in private nursing colleges, 2,782 seats are vacant. While 616 out of 912 seats in MSc Nursing, 287 out of 805 seats in Post Basic Nursing, and 300 out of 1,775 seats in GNM are vacant. Private Nursing College Association has written a letter to the Chief Minister for the second time, demanding zero admission percentage as the Health Minister rejected the plea.