Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan said they planned to commission the Nandurbar and Jalgaon medical colleges in the 2018-19 academic year
In the next academic year, aspiring students of medicine may have a wider choice with the Maharashtra government planning to launch three medical colleges at Nandurbar, Jalgaon and Baramati. This will add 300 more seats in the government-run medical education sector.
Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan said they planned to commission the Nandurbar and Jalgaon medical colleges in the 2018-19 academic year.
While the medical college in tribal-dominated Nandurbar bordering Gujarat was announced by the erstwhile Congress-NCP government, progress on it was tardy. The state cabinet had recently approved a composite medical hub at Jalgaon.
This would include colleges imparting education in medicine, dentistry, ayurveda, homeopathy, nursing and para-medicine.
"We will attach the Nandurbar and Jalgaon medical colleges to the local civil hospitals to enable admissions next year," Mahajan said. Temporary lecture halls will be constructed.
Dr Pravin Shingare, director, medical education and research (DMER), said they expected the Medical Council of India (MCI) to inspect the sites by November-December. The state will fulfill any queries in two months, with the MCI team likely to make another visit after February to check on the compliances.
"We expect the final nod by March-April 2018, with admissions starting in July," he added. Shingare said the work on the Rs 400 crore medical college and hospital in Baramati was underway and it was likely to be commissioned in 2018-19. While the Nandurbar medical college will cost Rs 550 crore, the Jalgaon medical hub will need infusion of Rs 1,200 crore in phases.
The erstwhile Congress-NCP government had announced seven new medical colleges at Chandrapur, Alibag, Satara, Baramati, Nandurbar, Gondia and Mumbai. So far, only the Chandrapur and Gondia medical colleges are functional.
While land constraints had affected work at Alibag, Mumbai and Satara, Mahajan said they had approved the grant of the irrigation department's land at Satara for the project.
Maharashtra has 48 medical colleges, including 16 run by the state government. These institutions have around 6,695 under-graduate, 1,139 post-graduate and 261 post-graduate diploma seats.
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