GUNTUR: Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said Amaravati will turn into a medical hub, with 14 medical colleges coming forward to setup shops in the capital region. “It will also become a centre of medical tourism in the coming years,” he said.He was speaking after laying the foundation stone of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Amaravati campus, between Kuragallu and Yerrabalem villages, here on Wednesday. He said that the State government was creating facilities for 35 lakh people to live in the capital city.
He explained that `7,500 crore was being spent to lay roads, `15,900 crore for basic amenities, `9,600 to construct buildings in the Administrative City and `1,450 crore for Kondaveedu flood management.
“We are preparing plans with the concept of walk-to-work and anybody will be able to reach their place of work within 10-15 minutes,” he said. He further said that 1,600 km cycle path would be developed in the capital region to avoid pollution. Expressing happiness over Amrita varsity’s decision to set up a campus in the State capital, he said the Vidyapeetham would provide value-based education.
The president of Board of Management Amritaswarupananda Puri said that education should enrich students, both internally and externally.“For real education to happen, the student’s heart must open up. This cannot be gained by merely increasing one’s intellectual capacity. Nurturing this aspect is the ultimate goal of Amrita,” he said.The director of Amaravati campus, Sadasiva Chaitanya, said that admissions would begin from 2018-19 academic year. “We expect to start with 300 students in 2018 and by 2020 we will have 2,000 students in the Amaravati campus,” he said.
The campus will be developed in two phases and is expected to be fully operational by 2033, with over 10,000 students in various courses, including in engineering, management, medicine, humanities, arts and sciences, biotechnology, nano sciences, philosophy, yogic sciences, ayurveda and others.On the occasion, the Amrita Trust distributed 5,000 sarees to the women of Amaravati. HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Municipal minister P Narayana, principal secretaries and others were present.