Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday, virtually inaugurated 11 new government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu. The new colleges in Ariyalur, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Krishnagiri, Nagapattinam, Namakkal, Ramanathapuram, the Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Tiruvallur and Virudhunagar, would have an intake of 1,450 M.B.B.S. students annually.

On the occasion, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin reiterated Tamil Nadu’s stand against the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-based medical admissions, and appealed to Mr. Modi to allow admissions on the basis of Class-XII marks.

The total cost of buildings for these colleges, shared by the Central and State Governments, is ₹4,080 crore. The Central Government’s share was ₹2,145 crore and the State Government’s was ₹1,934.6 crore.

While Governor R.N. Ravi took part in the virtual event from the Raj Bhavan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Minister for Public Works E.V. Velu, Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu (also holding Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture portfolio) and Health Minister Ma. Subramanian took part in the virtual event from the Secretariat.

The medical colleges in Ariyalur, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Krishnagiri, Nagapattinam, the Nilgiris and Virudhunagar, would have an annual intake of 150 students, while the remaining colleges would have 100.

Each of these colleges would have 33 departments with basic facilities like dissection hall, laboratories, skill labs, central library, lecture halls, and examination halls, among others. They would also have hostel facilities and residential quarters for boys and girls, and quarters for the teaching staff.

Each of these hospitals would have Emergency Department, Intensive Medical Care Unit, Intensive Cardiac Care Unit, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Sick Newborn Intensive Care Unit and Obstetric ICU, among others.

The 33 departments in each of these colleges are– Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Microbiology, Pharmacology, Forensic Medicine, Community Medicine, General Medicine, Paediatrics, TB & Chest Diseases, DVL, Psychiatry, General Surgery, Orthopaedics, Ophthalmology, ENT, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Anaesthesia, Radiology, Central Casuality, Medical Education Unit, Audio Visual aids, Central Library, Blood Bank, OG ICU, Emergency Medicine, Administrative Block, CSSD, Laundry, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

As on March 31, 2021, the intake capacity of students in M.B.B.S. courses in government medical institutions was 3,550.

CICT’s new campus

Prime Minister Modi also virtually inaugurated the new campus of Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) with state-of-the-art infrastructure at Perumbakkam near Chennai, constructed at a cost of ₹24 crore.