West Bengal’s government is planning to open five new medical colleges next year. They are proposed to be set up at Diamond Harbour, Purulia, Rampurhat, Raigunj, and Cooch Behar.
“Once these medical colleges are operational, approximately 500 undergraduate medical seats will be created,” said a source in the health department.
With these, the number of MBBS seats in government medical colleges will go up by 500, besides the existing 2,600 seats in the various government and private medical colleges.
According to the officials, the infrastructure is almost completed. The Medical Council of India has recently visited the hospitals to inspect the progress. Once the team gives the clearance, the colleges will be made operational.
According to sources in the Health Department, construction of four other medical colleges at Jhargram, Tomluk (East Midnapore), Barasat (North 24-Parganas) and Arambag (Hooghly) may begin from next year.
It should be noticed that after coming to power West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stressed not only on the health infrastructure but also on medical education. She felt the need of the setting up of new colleges and upgrade the existing ones. She also laid emphasis on increasing the undergraduate and postgraduate seats in the medical colleges to avoid scarcity on medical officers, nurses, and paramedical staff in various state-run hospitals in the state.
Following the instruction of the Chief Minister, the Health Department has already set up more than 40 Super specialty hospitals across the state so that people in the districts can avail best quality treatment, particularly in the rural areas.