SLUG: DELAY OVER FIRE SAFETY, BU NOD
Ahmedabad: Around 185 nursing colleges are still awaiting their annual permissions from the Gujarat Nursing Council (GNC), even as the admission process for paramedical courses, including nursing, nears completion. These institutions face delays due to a lack of fire department's no-objection certificates (NOCs), building use (BU) permissions, and staff shortages in teaching and administrative roles.
The admission committee successfully placed 1,500 students across various programmes after two admissions rounds, including BSc nursing, physiotherapy, GNM, ANM, optometry, occupational therapy, orthotics and prosthetics, and naturopathy. A third round is in progress to fill 2,000 remaining seats.
The colleges' approval delays primarily stem from non-compliance with building use regulations and fire safety standards. These institutions were consequently excluded from the admission process.
The situation is unprecedented, with these 185 unapproved nursing, BSc, GNM, and ANM colleges representing approximately 6,000 seats out of the total 37,000 seats available across nearly 900 nursing and paramedical colleges in the state.
Court mandates regarding fire NOCs and BU permissions, implemented to ensure safety against fire incidents, resulted in the council's delayed approval process.
Dr M. M. Prabhakar, president of Gujarat Nursing Council, said, "Several colleges failed to furnish fire department NOCs and BU permissions, so their approvals were held back. We announced a third deadline for the submission of these approvals, latest by Nov 30. If these colleges fail to adhere to the deadline, we will not issue approvals to them for the current academic year."
A considerable number of unapproved institutions include multiple colleges operating from single buildings without proper authorization. About 50 newly established colleges are also among those seeking approval.