IN WHAT is being viewed as a bonanza, Maharashtra Cabinet in its meeting held in Mumbai onWednesday gave nod to setting up nine new Government Medical College and Hospitals (GMCHs) including six in Vidarbha region alone, new Government Agriculture College at Buldhana. Besides, Centres of Excellence will be set up in Government Colleges of Engineering (GCEs) at Nagpur, Amravati, and Yavatmal. Of nine new GMCHs to be set up in district, six are in Vidarbha region. The colleges will be set up in Vidarbha at Amravati, Buldana, Washim, Wardha, Bhandara, and Gadchiroli.The other three colleges to be set up in other parts of Maharashtra include Palghar, Thane (Ambernath), and Jalna. Of the colleges to be set up in Vidarbha, the land for Amravati and Wardha will be finalised in due course of time, stated the Cabinet decision in this regard. In the meeting chaired by Eknath Shinde, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, the proposal for setting up nine new GMCHs was cleared.

 

Accordingly, these medical colleges will be set up with attached hospitals with capacity of total 430 beds. The total expenditure estimated on these colleges is Rs 4,365.72 crore. Each college will have intake capacity of 100 students. At present, there are total 23 GMCHs in Maharashtra with combined intake capacity of 3,750 students. In the State, availability of doctors is only 0.74 doctor per 1,000 population. At the country level, the said average is 0.90 doctor per 1,000 population. As far as Vidarbha region is concerned, it has GMCHs at Nagpur, Chandrapur, Gondia,Yavatmal, and Akola.With the latest sanction to six new colleges, all the 11 districts in Vidarbha will have GMCH. In the same State Cabinet meeting, approval was granted to setting up a new Government Agriculture College at Buldana. Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister, had made the announcement in the State Budget 2023-24 earlier this year. The college will be affiliated to Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola. It will have intake capacity of 60 seats from the current academic year. For the purpose, 43 posts will be created. The Cabinet also gave its nod to expenditure of Rs 146.54 crore covering salary and other expenses.

 

State-of-the-art Centres of Excellence will be set up at Government Colleges of Engineering (GCEs) at Nagpur, Amravati, and Yavatmal in Vidarbha region. State Cabinet gave its nod to the proposal in the meeting held on Wednesday. These centres will help in utilising new technology, enhance collaboration with industry, and also in generation of employment opportunities. The Cabinet approved Centres of Excellence at 10 Government and private engineering colleges, pharmacy colleges, and polytechnics in the State.These include College of Engineering Pune Technological University, VJTI Mumbai; GCEs at Nagpur, Amravati, Yavatmal, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar; Government Pharmacy Colleges at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Karad; Government Engineering and Research College at Awsari in Pune district, and Government Polytechnic at Kolhapur. An estimated expenditure of Rs 53.66 crore has been sanctioned for these centres. Financial contribution of industry and research organisations also will be taken for these. An advisory committee of professors from renowned institutions as well as industry experts will be formed to ensure effective management of the centres, which will be set up for three years.