PG medical seats across six govt colleges up by 320: Sukhu

he chief minister said that the number of postgraduate (PG) medical seats across the state’s six government medical colleges had been increased from 277 to 597, an addition of 320 seats.

Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday inaugurated Blocks 1 and 2 of Phase 4 of the Armsdale Building at the Himachal Pradesh Secretariat.

Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu meet tourists while strolling at Mall Road, Shimla on Sunday. (Deepak Sansta/ HT)

The chief minister said that infrastructure expansion was essential to support development.

“The secretariat building had been expanded at the cost of ₹9 crore, and offices would be shifted to the new premises shortly,” he said.

Replying to questions, the chief minister said that the number of postgraduate (PG) medical seats across the state’s six government medical colleges had been increased from 277 to 597, an addition of 320 seats.

He said the number of PG seats at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, had increased from 139 to 230, while at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, the number had risen from 99 to 156.

At Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College, Mandi, the number of seats had risen from 24 to 79, while at Dr YS Parmar Government Medical College, Nahan, PG seats have been increased from three to 35.

HP selected as best-performing state in tobacco-free campaign

Sukhu said that Himachal Pradesh has been selected as the best-performing state in the Tobacco Free Youth Campaign 3.0 (TFYC 3.0).

The chief minister lauded the efforts of the health and family welfare department for its successful implementation of TFYC in the state. He said Himachal had been selected as one of the best in the larger state category and the award will be presented on October 28 in New Delhi.

The TFYC was launched in 2023 to mark World No Tobacco Day. The ongoing TFYC 3.0 is a 60-day drive to prevent youth tobacco use and support cessation through six key strategies.