Karnataka High Court has ordered that approval for admission in 352 nursing schools and 180 nursing colleges of the State should be withheld for 2006-07.

The Karnataka Nursing Council and Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences were issued orders after the Court took note of an expert committee report that alleged poor infrastructure in these nursing institutes.

Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph took up a suomoto Public Interest Litigation (PIL) registered based on a letter by Kerala Human Rights Commission Acting Chairman Justice V Mohan Kumar, which alleged pathetic conditions of all nursing institutes in the State and issued the Order.

The Bench perused the report of the Dr CM Gurumurthy Task Force on the paramedical education, which the Karnataka government placed before it as per its earlier direction. It observed that the panel had found 352 schools and 180 colleges did not have proper infrastructure like buildings, staff, library and laboratory.

The report had stated these institutes did not maintain any timetable for clinical postings of their students and hospitals had no monthly registers or certificates on attendance. It also warned that patients would suffer if nurses who lacked the practical knowledge were employed by hospitals.

The Bench imposed the prohibition on approval of admissions to these institutes while granting them the liberty to get impeded for a hearing. It adjourned the matter while granting time to the State government to file an affidavit regarding the action taken on the panel's recommendation.