E-Paper
State to get ten new medical colleges
Maharashtra govt sanctions teaching & non-teaching posts for 10 new medical colleges, adding 1,000 education seats & 4,300 hospital beds.
Prefer HTon Google
Mumbai: The state government has sanctioned 2,440 teaching posts and 2,040 non-teaching posts for 10 new medical colleges in the state, paving the way for the addition of 1,000 medical education seats from the ensuing academic year. The in-patient capacity of state public hospitals will also increase by 4,300 beds, with the addition of 430 beds in each of the ten colleges.
Maharashtra has one government medical college each in 23 out of 36 districts. In July last year, the state government approved the establishment of 10 additional government medical colleges in 10 districts at a cost of ₹4,366 crore. The colleges will be located in Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Buldhana, Washim, Wardha, Amravati, Jalna, Hingoli, Thane, and Palghar districts.
A government resolution (GR) regarding teaching and non-teaching posts for these colleges issued last year stated, “As per norms of the World Health Organisation (WHO) mandating a 1:1000 doctor to population ratio, the state government has decided to address the shortage of doctors in the state and ensure timely access to healthcare services by establishing ten new colleges.”
“The state government is planning to open these colleges from the coming academic year,” said a senior official from the directorate of medical education and research. “This is the first step towards National Medical Council (NMC) approval,” he added.
Educationists and parents of medical aspirants too hoped the colleges would commence during the ensuing academic year. Sudha Shenoy, a medical admission counsellor, said, “We have been waiting for new seats for a very long time. While the government will create teaching and non-teaching staff posts, no one is addressing infrastructural facilities which must be required for the NMC approval. If the government is planning to provide new seats from the current academic year, they need to act fast, otherwise it will remain on paper like last year.”
In 2023, the government had proposed to construct 12 medical colleges during the presentation of the state’s budget. Earlier too, the government had proposed to set up medical colleges in Thane and Palghar districts on several occasions, but it remained only on paper.
The government has also approved 448 posts for each new medical college at an estimated expense of ₹312.20 crore.
