Education & Health

Karnataka’s 2025 health budget formally announced that Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) will set up a constituent government medical college in Bagalkot, supported by a new 500‑plus‑bed teaching hospital. The aim is to boost MBBS seats for North Karnataka and reduce the gap in specialist care for districts that currently depend on Hubballi, Belagavi or Bengaluru for advanced treatment.​ Following the budget, the state medical education department asked RGUHS to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) and begin land identification around Navanagar. Around 42 acres of land leased earlier to the Bagalkot Horticulture University in Navanagar sectors 1 and 13 are being reclaimed and reserved for the new campus so that academic blocks, hostels and the teaching hospital can be built as a single integrated complex. A senior official quoted in local reports said the government has already deposited ₹1,500 crore in the name of RGUHS, of which about ₹500 crore is earmarked specifically for the Bagalkot government medical college.​ Tender Issued for Construction To move from planning into execution, the Department of Health and Family Welfare has now issued a construction tender for the Bagalkote government medical college project. The tender covers academic buildings as well as boys’ and girls’ hostels, teaching‑staff quarters, internal roads, water‑supply systems and other support infrastructure, with work items ranging from mechanical excavation and land‑levelling to concrete foundations, superstructure, road works and building finishes. The tender documents state that the project’s goal is to “enhance medical education infrastructure in the Bagalkote region and improve accommodation and amenities for students and faculty,” and set a bid‑submission deadline of 6 December 2025, signalling that ground work is expected to begin soon after.​ Health‑Department Hiring and Hospital Expansion In parallel, the District Health and Family Welfare Society (DHFWS) Bagalkot released a recruitment notification in June 2025 for 131 posts including Medical Officers, Staff Nurses and several paramedical roles to strengthen services under the National Health Mission and district hospitals. The online application window ran from 3 to 17 June 2025, and the notification emphasised filling gaps in primary and secondary care facilities across the district. At the state level, the 2025 health budget also talks about building new high‑tech hospitals and modular operation theatres in various taluks, with Bagalkot flagged as one of the districts getting a new government medical college plus additional hospital capacity under the broader upgrade drive.

In the 2024‑25 state budget, Karnataka earmarked around ₹44,422 crore for the education department, roughly 12% of the total state expenditure, promising a major push for government schools and pre‑university colleges. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced about ₹850 crore specifically for improving infrastructure in schools and PU colleges, including new classrooms, building repairs and upgradation of rural and minority institutions. The budget also talked about free electricity and water for all government schools and PU colleges, more funds for science and computer labs, and expansion of Karnataka Public Schools that offer classes from pre‑primary to higher grades on a single campus.​ Despite the big numbers, follow‑up reports in early 2025 pointed out that many of these promises were either delayed or implemented only partially. Data from the education department showed that just over 5,300 schools – about 10.7% of the total – actually had internet access, the same number as before the upgrade announcement, raising questions about utilisation of the lab and connectivity grants. Teachers and educationists quoted in these reviews argued that while infrastructure is important, the more urgent need is systematic teacher recruitment, training and rational posting, because a large share of the budget still goes only to salaries without significantly improving classroom quality or learning levels.