BHUBANESWAR:Odisha has pressed the Centre for speedy release of its share of Rs 1,873 crore towards establishment of five new medical colleges at district headquarter hospitals (DHH) in the State.
Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak on Wednesday met Union Health Minister JP Nadda at New Delhi and raised the issue of releasing the Central share to kick-start the medical colleges at the DHHs in Puri, Koraput, Balangir, Balasore and Baripada.
The medical colleges with 100 seats would be attached to the DHHs which will be upgraded to 500-bed multi-speciality hospitals. The medical colleges will come up at an estimated Rs 2450.9 crore of which the Centre will bear 75 per cent and State 25 per cent.
Nayak apprised Nadda on the steps taken by the State Government for early execution of the projects. All the ground work and preliminary infrastructure development has been completed. The State Government has submitted the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) to the Centre, he said.
The State has also urged the Centre to provide Rs 100 crore for upgradation and expansion of Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre at Cuttack. The only State-run cancer care hospital of Odisha plans to set up a second campus to meet the increasing load of patients as well as upgrade itself to a full-fledged teaching institution.
Even as the Centre agreed to the proposal for expansion of the hospital, the recent Governing body meeting of the hospital chaired by Nayak had decided to set up the new campus on the outskirts of Cuttack. Land is being identified at Barang tehsil for the purpose. The new campus is envisaged to have advanced cancer care facilities, wards and academic wings.
The AHRCC with around 281 beds has been struggling to cope with the increasing patient load that has grown from 9,000 in 2010 to over 17,500 in 2014. The present campus is also going to fall short for expansion and infrastructure development as the hospital is set for upgradation in a 500-bed State Cancer Institute.