The State Medical Faculty (SMF) in Uttar Pradesh has decided that all healthcare facilities attached to para-medical institutes will be geo-tagged.

Professor Alok Kumar, the secretary of SMF, a statutory body that monitors the conduct of para-medical institutes in the state, said that Remote Sensing Application Centre (RSAC) in the city will be contacted for the same.

Hospitals of para-medical institutes are often not on the same campus.

"In such cases, there are chances that the inspectors, who are not locals, are shown some other, well-equipped hospitals to get a better scorecard. We plan to snub such attempts through geo-tagging," said Prof Kumar.

There are about 1,200 institutes, a chunk of which are located in semi-urban areas, offering paramedical courses in Uttar Pradesh.

Explaining how the move will help, Prof Kumar said: "During surprise inspections, an inspector (who is a medical faculty from another institute) will be shared the geographical location of the campus he/she is supposed to check. They will reach the institute and the hospital registered by the institute without the guidance of the owners."

This way the actual hospital will be inspected and the chance of the inspector getting misguided will be eliminated, he observed.

The move is also aimed at improving the clinical training of students by eliminating fraud.

"If prescribed standards are maintained at hospitals, practical training will be better and hence we can produce good para-medical staff for both government and private hospitals," said Prof Alok. (KB/IANS)