Bhubaneswar: Two more govt medical colleges in Odisha will start enrolling students for MBBS course from the next academic session, health minister Mukesh Mahaling told the media here on Monday. “We have 17 govt-run medical colleges, and of these, 11 offer MBBS course. The medical colleges at Talcher and Phulbani will be added to that list next year,” Mahaling added.
Though construction of Pabitra Mohan Pradhan Medical College and Hospital at Talcher, which began in April 2016, has been completed, state govt could not start the admission process. The institute and its hostels, and residential complexes were constructed at around Rs 500 crore that was invested by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited.
The Govt Medical College at Talakapada near Phulbani in Kandhamal district, spread over 50 acres and built at around Rs 548 crore, is nearing completion.
“We are now focusing on appointment of doctors and paramedical staff and in order to increase the number of doctors, we need to increase the number of medical graduates by setting up medical colleges and hospitals in the state,” Mahaling added.
Official sources said the health department has started the process of applying for approval from the National Medical Commission (NMC) for starting admission into the two medical colleges. “We are prepared to start the admission process for 100 seats in each of the two medical colleges. Once we get the NMC approval, we will hold admissions for the two medical colleges,” Santosh Kumar Mishra, director of medical education and training (DMET).
So far, Odisha has 2,450 MBBS seats. The SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack and the MKCG Medical College in Berhampur have 250 MBBS seats each, while VIMSAR, Burla, has 200 seats.
Similarly, the medical colleges at Koraput and Baripada have 125 MBBS seats each, while the medical colleges at Balangir, Balasore, Puri, Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Bhawanipatna have 100 seats each. Jajati Keshari Medical College and Hospital in Jajpur has 50 seats.
While three private medical colleges have 350 MBBS seats, two deemed to be universities in Bhubaneswar have 250 seats each. After the addition of 200 more seats, the number of MBBS seats will touch 2,650 in Odisha.