Bhubaneswar: Odisha govt has initiated the process to earmark land for 11 proposed health education institutions, including four medical colleges and hospitals, two dental colleges and hospitals, three ayurvedic medical colleges and hospitals and two homoeopathic medical colleges and hospitals across the state.Official sources said the health and family welfare department has begun coordinating with district administrations to identify and transfer land parcels in its name. Once the land is demarcated and alienated, the works department will prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) for the proposed institutions, following which tenders will be floated for construction.CM Mohan Charan Majhi had in June last year approved the establishment of four medical colleges and hospitals in Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Dhenkanal and Nabarangpur districts. He had also announced dental colleges and hospitals at Keonjhar and Balangir, ayurvedic medical colleges and hospitals at Gajapati, Malkangiri and Rayagada, and homoeopathic medical colleges and hospitals at Nayagarh and Nuapada.Health and family welfare secretary Aswathy S said a meeting was held recently to review the preparatory work. “The process has started for identification and alienation of land in the name of the department. At some places, land identification has been completed,” she said.She said construction of academic and administrative buildings, hostels and other essential infrastructure would begin after the department secures the required land. “Only after that can we make the medical colleges functional before applying to the National Medical Commission (NMC) for permission to start courses,” she added.Officials said the new institutions are aimed at expanding medical education capacity and improving access to specialised healthcare in underserved districts. The proposed colleges are expected to reduce regional imbalance in the availability of doctors and healthcare services, particularly in southern, western and tribal-dominated parts of the state.Odisha currently has 14 state-run medical colleges and hospitals. These include SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack; MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur; Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Burla; and government medical colleges at Koraput, Baripada, Balangir, Balasore, Puri, Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Bhawanipatna, Jajpur, Kandhamal and Talcher. Officials said timelines will be finalised after land availability and DPR preparation are completed in each district.
