E-Paper
Construction of Mohali medical college to begin in December
The college will be developed in two phases, encompassing an academic block, student hostels, nursing colleges, and accommodation for doctors. The total budget for the entire project amounts to approximately ₹1000 crore
The construction of the Sector 81 medical college, for which Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) allotted 25-acre land to the medical education and research department (MERD) last year, will commence in December.
The college will be developed in two phases, encompassing an academic block, student hostels, nursing colleges, and accommodation for doctors. The total budget for the entire project amounts to approximately ₹1000 crore.
The project is expected to be completed within two years.
The drawings for the academic and hostel blocks have already been finalised, and these structures will be set up in the first phase at an estimated cost of around ₹450 crore.
In December 2022, GMADA allocated 25-acre vacant land in Sector 81 to MERD.
The medical college, named Dr BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences, which is currently operating from Phase 6, is affiliated with Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot.
The college is accommodating 300 students and 108 interns.
The director principal of the college Dr Bhavneet Bhatti confirmed that the drawings have been approved, and they are anticipating the commencement of construction by the end of this year. Another official stated that tenders for the academic and hostel blocks will soon be floated.
Relocation was proposed last year
Last year, the Punjab government proposed relocating the recently established medical college in Phase 6, Mohali, to Knowledge City in Sector 81. The college was established during the tenure of the previous Congress government, utilising the building of the existing Mohali civil hospital, Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC), and a training institute of the health department.
In April 2022, the then health minister Dr Vijay Singla, proposed a “better site” for the medical college, expressing dissatisfaction with the initially selected location. He emphasised that the available 10-acre land near the college was insufficient for future expansion. Consequently, a three-member committee of senior IAS officers identified three potential sites for the college: Jujhar Nagar near Phase 6, Medicity in New Chandigarh, and Sector 81, where the Punjab government had acquired 381 acres for the establishment of Knowledge City in 2009.
In August 2022, the directorate of research and medical education, Punjab, decided to shift the college to the land initially allocated for the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), an autonomous institution of the department of science and technology, government of India, in Sector 81.
