Following are excerpts from a report in Times of India.
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday asked the Medical Council of India (MCI) to prepare a series of medical reforms within a month. One of the crucial reforms is regarding land required to start medical colleges.
Now, the ministry allows a medical college to start on a 10-acre plot in nine cities – Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kanpur and Pune. It is planning to expand this list and include state capitals of Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, which are not only facing acute shortage of human resources, but also have poor health indicators.
The ministry will allow these states to have split campuses – hospital and medical college within 10km of each other. This facility is available only in north-eastern and hill states, which require 20 acres of plot to start a medical college.
… The high-power expert group (HLEG) of the Planning Commission working on universal health coverage has proposed a phased addition of 187 colleges. The HLEG said by 2015 under phase A, 59 new medical colleges will admit students in the 15 states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP and West Bengal.
By 2017, 13 of these states will have an additional 70 medical colleges, and by 2022, 58 additional colleges will be built in two additional phases (2017-20 and 2020-22). By 2022, India will have one medical college per 25 lakhs in all states except Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
"The implementation of HLEG’s recommendations will enable the additional availability of 1.2 lakh doctors by 2017 and another 1.9 lakh doctors between 2017 and 2022. With this rate of growth, it is expected that the HLEG target of one doctor per 1,000 will be achieved by 2028," the report said.
These easing of norms would indeed help. In particular, the plan to expand Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar to a medical college is stuck because of the land requirements. With the ease of the norms many large hospitals, which already have or are close to having the required number of beds, can have an associated medical college.
The ease of the norms should be such that many district hospitals can also have medical colleges. That will spread the medical colleges to other districts.
December 24th, 2011
See https://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3365; in particular https://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/wp-content/uploads/image/20100315%20budget.JPG. The later shows that the 2010 budget has 32.5 crores for making the building and the foundation for the proposed medical college associated with the Capital Hospital. This was proposed and announced several years back. Good to see this in the budget. This is a good and inexpensive way to make a medical college as the hospital, beds, doctors and patients are already there. Adding a few more as required by MCI would lead to a medical college and at least 100 more students per year would then be able to pursue medicine in a government facility at an affordabale cost. These students and the future PG students would be beneficial to the patients. This is a win-win situation at comparatively small additional cost. (The total budget for this was earlier mentioned as 100 crores.)
This approach should be immediately replicated in all the other larger size hospitals in the state; if necessary in a PPP mode, as is being done in Karnataka. (There was a recent news that a team from Odisha was planing to visit Karnataka to find more about how it is being done there.)
In addition as mentioned before SAIL should do the same with respect to IGH in Rourkela.
March 16th, 2010
The New Indian Express reported that the Minister of State for Health is considering following proposals.
(1) The proposal to set up a Health University is under the active consideration of the State Government. All the medical colleges in the State would be brought under the university for better management."
(2) In Khordha District: The proposal to upgrade the Capital Hospital into a medical college is also under the consideration of the Government.
(3) Appointment of homeopathic and ayurvedic doctors in place of MBBS doctors in vacant posts. More posts of homeopathic and ayurvedic doctors would be created keeping public welfare in mind.
(4) State Government has issued NOCs for establishment of three medical colleges in the private sector.
(i) In Koraput District: Nabadiganta Educational Trust will set up a hospital at Sunabeda. (Note: There was a report in Sambad earlier that one medical college is being established in Koraput district)
(ii) In Kalahandi District: Selvam Educational and Charitable Trust of Tamil Nadu will establish a college at Jaring in Kalahandi district.
(iii) In Balasore District: Shri Jagannath Educational and Health Trust will establish the third college at Balasore.
(iv) In Balangir District: Balaji Educational and Charitable Trust (BECT), Pudducherry, has signed an MoU with the WODC for establishment of a medical college at Balangir. The organisation has been given 25 acres free of cost. Construction of the college will start after BECT signed the lease agreement with the collector.
NOTE: Other private medical colleges in the state that have already received approval or are on drawing boards are:
(1) In Khordha District: Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital (approval received for MBBS course from 2007-08)
(2) In Khordha District: Kalinga Institute of Medical Science (approval received for MBBS course from 2007-08)
(3) In Cuttack District: Earlier the Oriya daily "The Samaja Group (Lok Sevak Mandal)" has shown interest to establish a medical college cum hospital in Cuttack district.
(4) In Sundergarh District: A private medical college is also proposed by WODC in Rourkela.
See http://www.baral.us/orissa/pdf/2005-nov25-statesman.pdf for an older list.
June 9th, 2007
Telegraph reports on the progress and the obstacles faced in making Capital Hospital a medical college. Following are some excerpts:
The proposed Rs 100 crore medical college at Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar could start anytime, but for five more acres of land.
The hospital that currently owns 20 acre of land needs another five acre to fulfil the Medical Council of India (MCI) norms for a medical college set up. As per the MCI the qualifying a criterion for any medical college is to “own a suitable single plot of land measuring not less than 25 acres.â€
“We have earmarked a few locations close by. However, the properties are already encroached and there are likely chances of protests by unauthorised occupants,†said the CMO of Capital Hospital, Loknath Acharya, refusing to reveal the exact location. …
Meanwhile, the location for the academic building has also been decided. “A seven-storied building would be constructed close to the paediatric and regional diagnostic centre,†said Acharya. This would house the major departments and staff chambers. …
Ever since the government decided to set up a medical college at a meeting presided over by the chief minister on April 8, the panel constituting senior bureaucrats led by director of medical education and technology S.C. Mohapatra has sat thrice discussing lacunas in the project.
June 2nd, 2007
The running headline of Tathya.in says that the Medical Council of India has approved 100 seats for KIMS (Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences), a component of KIIT deemed university. It does not yet show up in the MCI list of MBBS colleges. More details are awaited.
Assuming this is true, the medical college situation in Bhuabaneswar-CTC-Puri area will be as follows:
Continue Reading May 1st, 2007
The Orissa government has decided to make capital hospital (location) a full-fledged medical college. This is reported in various media outlets. (Kalinga Times, New Indian Express,Samaja1,Samaja2) The government is also planning to open another medical college in Rourkela or in the Mayurbhanj district. For the medical college in Bhubaneswar, the government plans an outlay of 100 crores with an immediate outlay of 25 crores. It is also reported that there is some plans to start PG classes in the Unit IV hospital of Bhubaneswar.With these developments Bhubaneswar-Cuttack area the medical college situation in Bhuabaneswar-CTC-Puri area will be as follows:
Continue Reading April 8th, 2007