Centre approves 11 new medical colleges via district hospital upgrades in UP, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh

The centre has cleared the decks for 11 new medical colleges that are to be established with existing district hospitals spread across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh. In a Lok Sabh reply, JP Nadda, minister of health and family welfare said that 157 government medical colleges have already been approved for upgradation under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode through the Viability Gap Funding Scheme.

The newly-approved medical colleges are in Jharkhand’s Giridih, Dhanbad, Jamtara and Khunti, including places such as Baghpar, Hathras, Mainpuri, Kasganj, Mahoba, and Hamirpur in UP, and Arunachal Pradesh's Namsai.

“Up to 40% of the project cost and up to 25% of the Net Present Value (NPV) of Operations and Maintenance (O&M) cost for the first five years may be supported as operational grant, with matching contributions allowed from the concerned state/authority,” Nadda said in a Lok Sabha reply.

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Medical colleges under PPP model

The minister also explained that the upgradation of these medical colleges will be done on the fund sharing mechanism between the Centre and state governments. The ratio of budget sharing will be 90:10 for northeastern and special category states and 60:40 for other regions.

The fund has been allocated under the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme to establish medical colleges under the PPP mode by upgrading existing district hospitals, subject to the conditions that state government allow full access to hospital facilities for the attached medical college, and land is provided on concessional terms.

“The Minimum Standard Requirement (MSR) Regulations of the National Medical Commission prescribe the norms for faculty recruitment, curriculum regulation, diagnostic and teaching equipment,” according to the official Lok Sabha reply.

In addition, up to 30% of the project cost may be provided as Central CGF support with an equivalent matching contribution permissible from the project sponsoring authority under the sub-scheme.