Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 23: The process for setting up of five new Medical Colleges in the State has been formally set off with the issuance of notification by the Health & Medical Education Department.
It may be recalled that the State and Central Governments have already announced setting up of these Medical Colleges in the State.
The places where these Medical Colleges are expected to be set up include Anantnag and Baramulla in Kashmir province, Doda, Kathua and Rajouri in Jammu province.
These Medical Colleges are being established under the Centrally sponsored scheme of “Establishment of New Medical Colleges Attached with District/Referral Hospitals”.
As per the notification, each college will have an intake capacity of 100 admissions at the under-graduate level (MBBS) for which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of India (Ministry of Health & Family Welfare) and the State Government has been already signed.
Already, Minister for Health & Medical Education, Taj Mohi-ud-Din has set things in motion for starting these college from the coming academic session. The Minister has already inspected all the five proposed sites and impressed upon the authorities to ensure that these colleges are operationalised before the start of the coming academic session.
The Government has also appointed Nodal Officers to make these colleges functional. These are Dr. Kaisar Ahmad, Nodal Officer for Anantnag Medical College; Dr. Javed Choudhary, Nodal Officer for Baramulla Medical College; Dr. Bela Mahajan, Nodal Officer for Doda Medical College; Dr. Shashi Gupta, Nodal Officer for Kathua Medical College and Dr. Farooq Geelani, Nodal Officer for Rajouri Medical College.