Odisha: District Hospital Jajpur to be converted into new medical college

Bhubaneshwar: Jajpur district, an industrial belt in Odisha is likely to see a new government medical college coming up soon with the consent of the state authorities.

The college will come up with the help of the existing district headquarters hospital at Jajpur converted into a medical college

According to the plan, the existing district headquarters hospital at Jajpur will be upgraded to a medical college. The district of Jajpur is famous for housing a number of industrial houses, including the Tata's Kalinga Nagar steel plant.

Health Secretary, Pramod Meherda told Telegraph: "The aim is to address the dearth of medical professionals and cater to the healthcare needs of the people of the area."

The state authorities have given a directive to the collector to organize 20 acres of land on the district headquarters hospital premises. In case it fails in its attempt, to find another piece within 10Km of hospital radius

"A letter to this effect was sent to the Jajpur collector on Friday, and he was asked to submit the status within three days," said a health department official.

"The government aims to set up nine medical colleges in Odisha. We have already set up five," revealed Health Minister, Pratap Jena.

Waiving aside medical difficulty in the creation of medical infrastructure, Jena said: "We are trying to manage the faculties, and subsequently, another medical college will come up in the next phase. By 2020, all medical colleges will be operational."

Of the nine medical colleges, seven medical colleges will be set up by the state authorities, while two government institutions will be raised with the help of public sector undertakings reported Telegraph.

A public-private-partnership mode will lead to two other medical colleges coming up in the state in of Kalahandi and Keonjhar.

The Keonjhar medical college will be funded by the Tata Group, while for the Kalahandi facility, the state government has signed a MoU with the Vedanta Group.