Bhubaneswar, Sept. 30: All 124 students of Sardar Rajas Medical College at Jaring in Kalahandi district will be absorbed into various private medical colleges of the state, the cabinet decided at a meeting today.

The state cabinet also directed the Western Odisha Development Council to take over the functioning of the medical college and find out a suitable private partner through public-private partnership to revive the institution, so that the medical college and the hospital could start operating at the earliest.

At present, the college with 100 MBBS seats has two batches and a total of 124 students. One Selvam Charitable Trust is running the institute.

The council had rescinded its memorandum of understanding with the trust on September 1, alleging that the private educational trust did not comply with the key terms and conditions of the agreement, leading to the withdrawal of recognition by the Medical Council of India (MCI) this academic session. The trust had moved the Orissa High Court following the development council's decision.

OnSeptember 14, the high court had directed the state government that "it is in the best interest of the state and the nation that the medical college and the hospital are not closed down but remedial steps be taken by the state in consultation with all the stakeholders to restructure and review the institution to serge the needs of the public of the state and the local area in which it is located."

Even though the MoU with the development council had been signed in 2004, the college got permission from the MCI to admit students in 2013-14 after several attempts.

However, based on allegations that the college authorities manipulated records and adopted unfair means to get the MCI nod for admissions, a CBI team raided the institute in February and seized several admission and infrastructure related documents.

The college students had launched an indefinite strike in April, demanding proper infrastructure facilities and filling up of teacher vacancies. They alleged that the college had failed to meet any of the criteria laid down by the MCI. Despite having 100 MBBS seats, it did not have a single permanent faculty and classes were being conducted by part-time faculty members.

Though the MCI had allowed admission in 100 seats in the institute in 2013-14, it cancelled the admissions into the college in 2014-15, citing inadequate infrastructure. However, the college authorities had challenged the MCI order in the Supreme Court, following which it was allowed to admit students in September last.

The court had asked the college authorities to fill in the infrastructure gap and directed the MCI to visit the medical college within a time span of three months. Around 24 students had taken admission following the order.