'454 districts in India do not have a medical college'

Mangalore, September 11: There is an acute shortage of 10 lakh doctors and 20 lakh nurses in India and only 188 districts have medical colleges. There is not a single medical college in 454 districts across the nation, said Dr S Ramananda Shetty, vice-chancellor of Nitte University here on Monday.

Delivering the Foundation Day lecture of Mangalore University here, Dr Ramananda Shetty explained why India is lagging in the health sector. India has 315 medical colleges and it produces 36,000 MBBS graduates every year while China with 188 colleges produces 1.75 lakh doctors every year. "We have a fantastic education policy but we have failed to implement it," he added.

Stating that India's progress has been slow in the higher education sector, Dr Ramananda said the education policy framed in 1968 was implemented in 1986. Randomly increasing number of universities may affect quality education. What is needed is autonomy for universities and academic freedom, he said.

Throwing light on why higher education has not developed in India, he said professional institutions are finding it difficult to satisfy the norms of regulatory bodies like Medical Council of India, Nursing Council of India and eight other regulatory bodies. "Professional educational institutions are over governed here," he pointed out.

In 1964, Kothari Committee recommended that the government earmark 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) but today sadly our GDP is only 3.5 percent, of which only 0.66 percent is earmarked for education. Universities are suffering due to lack of funds, he said.

Earlier during the programme, Dr Ramananda and MU vice chancellor TC Shivashankara Murthy distributed laptops to MU faculty and launched internet protocol facility in the postgraduate departments of MU. Shivashankara Murthy said that implementation of instrumentation technology is the need of the hour for universities.

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Major facelift for Mangaluru's sporting heart: Mangala Stadium set for 2-month closure to upgrade synthetic track

News Network

December 15,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 15: Educational institutions in Mangaluru that rely on the popular Mangala Stadium for their annual sports events are bracing for an inconvenience as the city's key sporting venue is set to close its gates for a significant upgrade. The stadium is expected to be unavailable for approximately two months starting from January 15, 2026.

The closure is necessitated by a proposed overhaul of the stadium's facilities, with a special focus on upgrading the synthetic track. Pradeep Dsouza, Assistant Director of the District of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES), Dakshina Kannada, confirmed the development.

"Experts have visited the stadium, conducted a thorough inspection, and have given the go-ahead for a complete makeover," Dsouza stated. "Funds have been allocated for the project, and we are currently awaiting the final green signal from state officials to commence the work. We anticipate that the work will likely begin in the second week of January. Consequently, we have stopped renting out the stadium to colleges and other organizations in preparation for the upgrade."

The timing presents a logistical challenge for colleges, as many schools have already concluded their sports meets.

"Colleges will now be organizing their events and will need to find alternative locations to host their sports meets," Dsouza added. He suggested a few potential venues, including the Dakshina Kannada police ground, University College grounds, Panambur grounds, Swaraj Maidan in Moodbidri, and the Mangalore University sports grounds in Konaje.

However, many institutions note that finding a comparable venue will be difficult. While the DK police ground and University College grounds are closer to the city center, they do not possess the extensive facilities and infrastructure offered by Mangala Stadium.

Dr. P Dayananda Pai - P Satisha Govt First Grade College, Carstreet, is one such institution dependent on the stadium. Principal Jayakar Bhandary expressed hope for a swift completion of the work. "We expect the work to be completed at the earliest. If not, we will be forced to look for other venues to host the sports day for our students," Bhandary said, highlighting the pressing need for the city's main sporting facility.

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