8 new medical colleges likely for Odisha

Times of India, Dec 6, 2012
BERHAMPUR: Eight more medical colleges are likely to be established in the state. Four will be set up by the government, three by PSUs and another by an entrepreneur. At present, there are three government-run medical college and hospitals at Cuttack, Berhampur and Burla and four private medical colleges.

"The government will set up four more medical colleges in the state. While the Centre would fund around 75% of the cost, the state will bear the rest25%," health and family welfare minister Damodar Rout said at the golden jubilee function of MKCG Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday evening. The locations of the proposed medical colleges are yet to be decided, Rout added.

He said Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), Steel Authority of India Limited ( SAIL) and Nalco will be setting up medical colleges at Talcher, Rourkela and Koraput respectively. Similarly, the private medical college will be set at Bhubaneswar, the minister said, adding that a public health university was likely to come up in the state very soon.

He said the government was keen on medical education to tide over the shortage of doctors in the state, adding that good treatment is also important. "We have decided to establish an additional 100-bed maternity ward in each district hospital. Around Rs 17 crore would be spent on each ward, he said.

The proposed maternity wards would be of big help to pregnant women for delivery and post-delivery care, the minister said. The effort will help reduce the infant mortality rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality rate (MMR), said a senior doctor. While the IMR stood at 61 in 2010, the MMR was 258 per one lakh births in 2007-09, the doctor said.