Medical College Malerkotla district gets state govt approval

Chandigarh: Acting swiftly on Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's announcement, a state-level committee approved the proposal to set up a new medical college in Malerkotla at the cost of Rs 368.92 crore, at its meeting, chaired by the Chief Secretary, Ms Vini Mahajan, here this morning. Member Parliament from Patiala, Ms Preneet Kaur, also participated in the meeting.

The committee has been constituted under the Prime Minister’s 15 Point Programme for the Economic, Social and Educational Development of Minorities.

MP Preneet Kaur said a medical college was needed to provide better healthcare and medical education facilities to the people of Malerkotla and its adjoining areas.

She said the establishment of this medical institute would also help to create more employment opportunities in the medical field besides providing medical educational opportunities to the youth which would help in overcoming the shortage of doctors in Punjab.

Sharing details, the Chief Secretary said the medical college would be set up over 24.44 acres of land in Malerkotla Block-2 and would be connected to the local sub-divisional civil hospital. She said the land for this project has been provided on lease by the Punjab Waqf Board.

The Chief Secretary said 100 students are proposed to be admitted to the medical college in the first year. It has been estimated to spend Rs 43.66 crore per annum for the operation of the college. In addition, the local civil hospital would be upgraded to 500 beds, she announced.

The Chief Secretary issued instructions to make financial arrangements for this project in the revised budget.

Principal Secretary, Medical Education and Research, DK Tiwari, said all the conditions for opening a new medical college have been fulfilled as per the instructions issued by the National Medical Commission.

Principal Secretary, Social Justice and Minorities, Raji P Shrivastava, informed that a proposal to open a new agriculture college under Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana, in Kalanaur block of Gurdaspur district under the Central scheme has also been sent to the Union Government.

Additional Chief Secretary Rural Development and Panchayats Seema Jain, Principal Secretary Finance KAP Sinha, Director Social Justice and Minorities Malwinder Singh Jaggi and Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Ramvir also attended the meeting.