In early December, the Public Works Department will begin work on constructing six medical colleges across the State.
The institutions will come up in Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Tiruppur, Namakkal and the Nilgiris, at a cost of ₹325 crore each, and will be attached to the existing hospitals in the respective districts.
PWD officials said the department had received ‘in-principle approval’ for the projects. Tenders will be floated this month.
Recently, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare gave its nod for establishing six government medical colleges in the State at a total cost of ₹1,950 crore.
While the Centre’s share of the project cost will be ₹1,170 crore, the State government will provide the remaining ₹780 crore.
150 seats each
As per the policy note of the Health and Family Welfare Department (2019-2020), there are 24 government medical colleges with a total of 3,350 MBBS seats. Officials of the Health and Family Welfare Department said the new institutions will have 150 seats each. An official said, “We want the colleges to be ready as early as possible.”
According to the PWD, the new colleges will have three types of buildings — institution, hospital and residential. Most of them will have six-storeyed buildings and a 300 to 700-bedded hospital block attached to them.
PWD officials said each college will have 10 to 13 blocks, including hostel buildings, quarters, the administrative block and the faculty block. The hospitals, including the one in Ramanathapuram, will have separate blocks for a gymnasium, a bank, a post office and an auditorium.
The new colleges will also be equipped with a sewage treatment plant and a solar power plant. Disabled-friendly features will be incorporated into the constructions.
The college coming up in the Nilgiris alone will have single or two-storeyed buildings as it will be situated in a hilly area. The total plinth area of these colleges will vary between 3 lakh and 10 lakh sq.ft. The project is expected to be completed in 18 months.
On Wednesday, the Health and Family Welfare Department issued orders for the appointment of deans-cum-special officers for the new medical colleges in Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, the Nilgiris and Tiruppur.
Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said the State government was working on issuing the administrative sanction.
“About 60% of the funds will be allocated by the Central government. The process for allotting the remaining 40% of the project cost using the State government’s funds is under way,” he said.
( With inputs from Serena Josephine M.)
