The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) yesterday said it will continue to oppose the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) being recognised as a legitimate private medical school.
JVP Politburo member Bimal Ratnayake told the media yesterday that the party will consider legal action against any move to legitimise the private medical school at Malabe.
“We will discuss this matter with university lecturers, doctors and other academics. We plan to take legal action against the institution.
We will continue our struggle against the institution along with university students,” he said.
Ratnayake said the government is trying to legitimise the private medical college by claiming there is a shortage of doctors in the country.
“We have 25,463 doctors in the country. Around 19,000 are employed in the state sector and 6,000 are in the private sector. Another 10,000 doctors will join the force in the next five years. The issue of a shortage in some places has arisen due to irregularities in the transfer and appointment procedures,” he said.
Ratnayake said the number of doctors is a testimony to the fact that the country will not face a shortage of doctors in the future.