Dismissing allegations that injustice was being done to Gujarat in approval of new medical colleges, Medical Council of India (MCI) chief S K Sarin has said Gujarat will get the institutions, but only on merit.

“There is a mis-belief that Gujarat has done something because of which they were not getting new medical colleges. There is no such thing,” Sarin said at the inaugural session of the 66th Association of Physicians of India Conference (APICON) held in Ahmedabad on Friday.

“I was trying to assure the Chief Minister (Narendra Modi) that and I could tell in public that we are with the people of Gujarat. There are 26 districts (in Gujarat) why can’t we have 26 colleges,” he said, adding that Gujarat should take lead in medical education.

“Gujarat will get all the colleges. But only on merit. If there is merit nobody will stop it,” Sarin said.

The statement by Sarin assumes significance as Gujarat Health minister Jaynarayan Vyas has been criticising the MCI and the Union government for not granting permission for new medical colleges in the state.

He had alleged that injustice was being done to Gujarat for reasons not known to him.

Meanwhile, Modi asked Sarin to expedite the approval of seven applications for new medical colleges in Gujarat.

Modi said after he became Chief Minister, the number of seats in medical institutes in Gujarat has more than doubled.

He further said that he had a dream to have one medical college in each district of the state.

Modi also invited Sarin to come to Gujarat for fulfilment of MCI’s 2015 vision.