The process for setting up nine new medical colleges in the State has begun with the process of land alienation here on Wednesday.
Considering it to be the first step towards the vision of having a medical college in each district, the State government passed a GO on Tuesday, asking District Collectors of eight districts to alienate the land with immediate effect and hand them over to the principals of various government-run medical colleges.
In the process, three new medical colleges will come up in north-coastal Andhra Pradesh, with one in Vizianagaram and two in Visakhapatnam district at Paderu and Anakapalle.
The principal of Andhra Medical College has been given the responsibility to take possession of the lands for all the three medical colleges and begin the construction work.
“Seventy acres of land will be alienated in Vizianagaram, and 35 acres in Paderu and 50 acres in Anakapalle for the medical colleges,” Andhra Medical College principal P.V. Sudhakar told The Hindu.
The other colleges will come up at Rajamahendravaram in East Godavari district (12.57 acres), Machilipatnam in Krishna district (29.60 acres), Markapuram in Prakasam district (41.97 acres), Nandyal in Kurnool district (50 acres), Penukonda in Anantapur district (48.49 acres) and Kakinada in East Godavari district (15.76 acres).
While the Rajamahendravaram and Kakinada project will be taken care of by Rangaraya Medical College, Machilipatnam will be looked after by Siddhartha Medical College; Markapuram by Government Medical College-Ongole, and the projects at Nandyal and Penukonda by the Government Medical Colleges at Kurnool and Anantapur.
Each medical college will require an investment of around ₹300 to 500 crore and each college will cater to the recruitment of 200 to 300 staff members, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and other staff, said Dr. Sudhakar.
The medical colleges will initially start off as basic colleges catering to MBBS degrees and will later be upgraded to post-graduate colleges after the first batch passes out, he said.
The State government visualises that the new colleges will go operational in two years’ time.
AMC to be upgraded
As part of the upgrading the existing colleges, Andhra Medical College has been sanctioned ₹150 crore for upgrading its facilities.
Giving details, Dr. Sudhakar said that KGH has been sanctioned ₹500 crore for upgrading its facilities and AMC will get around ₹150 crore out of it.
According to him, the present Panagal Block, which houses the college and the administration block, will be dismantled and a new eight-floor building built in its place.
