BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Tuesday urged the Centre to issue letter of permission (LoP) for 200 MBBS seats in two new medical colleges in the ensuing academic session 2025-26.
Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mukesh Mahaling met Union Health minister JP Nadda at New Delhi and requested him to ensure issuance of LoP for commencing the admission process at Pavitra Mohan Pradhan Medical College (PMPMC), Talcher, and Government Medical College (GMC), Phulbani.
Accompanied by Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Mahaling urged Nadda’s intervention to grant permission for admission of 100 MBBS students each at both colleges. He also discussed strengthening healthcare sector in the state.
The deans and principals of the two institutions have already submitted their applications through the National Medical Commission (NMC) portal on January 18, 2025 and provided details regarding the posting of teaching and non-teaching staff.
Mahaling informed Nadda that the NMC teams have conducted physical inspection of GMC and PMPMC on May 28 and June 23 respectively. Following the inspections, both institutions were issued show cause notices by NMC on July 10 citing certain deficiencies and accordingly, the college authorities have submitted their compliance reports within the stipulated three-day period, Mahaling stated.
The state government, he said, is fully committed to ensure all necessary requirements in both medical colleges at the earliest to uphold the quality of medical education. “We have already allocated adequate funds in the state budget for the development and enhancement of facilities at these institutions. We are eagerly expecting the LoPs, as the admission process for MBBS students is scheduled to commence shortly,” he said.
Once the LoP is granted, two more government medical colleges will be added to the state’s healthcare sector, taking the total number to 16. Accordingly, the MBBS seats in government institutions will increase to 1,800. State Rural Development minister Rabi Narayan Naik, and Lok Sabha MPs Bhartruhari Mahtab, Pradeep Purohit and Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi were also present during the meeting.