In addition to securing the necessary funding for the medical college, the government has also started work on an additional 23 colleges in the state.
Following chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s announcement of a medical college in Gurgaon more than a year ago, the state government secured the necessary funding for it in the state budget last Friday.
While revealing the details of the budget, the government stated that the medical college would be set up in collaboration with Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and Shree Mata Sheetla Devi Shrine Board, Gurgaon, with each bearing 40 per cent, 40 per cent and 20 per cent of the total costs, respectively.
The chief minister had accorded the principle approval in Chandigarh on November 27, 2016, to set up a 300-bed government medical college and hospital in Gurgaon. The government has plans of upgrading the hospital capacity to 500 beds later. In addition to this, the government also has planned to increase the number of MBBS seats to 200 from the initially announced 100.
The college would also have 100 BDS seats and provisions will be made for MD, MS and MDS courses in future, the spokesperson said.
The residents had been demanding a medical college in the area for a long time, as presently Gurgaon has only two government hospitals – civil hospital at civil lines and another one at Sector 10. Both of these fall short in infrastructure and are too crowded to meet the residents’ needs. Consequently, the residents are left with no choice but to either go to Safdarjung or to AIIMS in New Delhi, as the rates for medical facilities in private hospitals in Gurgaon are exorbitant.
Following the budget, the residents are hopeful that the opening of a government medical college in the area will make access to medical care easier and also provide an opportunity to young students from the nearby areas to pursue the medical vocation.
The government also revealed that it has decided to start another 23 colleges, including a general college in Sector 52. Construction work for these colleges has already begun and most of these colleges should be able to start their classes by the next academic session in makeshift buildings, according to the finance minister, Abhimanyu Singh.
He stated, “The government has envisaged to open medical colleges, either in the government or private sector, at every district.”
