Kapurthala to get medical college with 100 MBBS seats; Centre gives nod

Chandigarh: Punjab's state which has been facing a dearth of MBBS seats is set to get a sigh of relief on the medical education front with the recent Union Government decision wherein the centre has given its approval for the establishment of a new medical college with 100 MBBS seats.

According to a recent statement made by an official spokesperson of the centre, new medical college is going to come up in Kapurthala besides up-gradation of the existing local civil hospital. The letter to this effect has been received by the state government from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The upcoming GMC is the first-of-its-kind in the Doaba region, with an intake capacity of 100 seats, and would be instrumental in providing quality healthcare and diagnostic services, besides giving impetus to medical education and research in the region.

At present, there are three Government Medical Colleges already functioning at Amritsar, Faridkot and Patiala in Punjab. Another GMC is being set up at SAS Nagar Mohali, and the fifth has now been sanctioned for Kapurthala.

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As per the communiqué, the new GMC would be set up at a cost of Rs 325 crore, of which Rs 195 crore (60 per cent share) would be incurred by the Centre. The remaining Rs 130 crore (40 per cent share) would be contributed by the Punjab government as the state’s share for the college being set up under a centrally sponsored scheme for the establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals.

The approval has been given considering the request made by the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. The Centre has also cleared a proposal for up-gradation of the Civil Hospital, thereby enhancing its bed strength from existing 220 to 500, with the latest medical infrastructural facilities added to the hospital.

The spokesperson said that the state government has already identified a suitable chunk of 11 acres of land to establish the GMC, at a distance of 1.5 km from the local civil hospital. Apart from the sum of Rs 325 crore to be spent on infrastructure, Rs 50 crore has been set aside for installation of the requisite medical equipment in the college, reports UNI

The issue was taken up by the CM with Government for setting up a GMC and sprucing up the infrastructure of Civil Hospital, Kapurthala, to mark the historic celebrations of 550th Prakash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

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