North East India:Concessions for setting up medical colleges in NE: Azad



Special concessions have been granted to encourage setting up of medical colleges by private parties in the North Eastern states, union minister for Health and Family Welfare Gulam Nabi Azad said today.

“We have reduced the minimum area requirement for a medical college from 25 acre to 20 acre. The requisite bed capacity has been brought down from 300 to 200,” Mr. Azad said.

Besides, requisite ‘bed occupancy’ has been reduced from 80 per cent to 60 per cent and number of required laboratories from 14 to six.

These concessions, he said, would encourage private parties from setting up more medical colleges in the region.

The health minister said the government would be setting up a dozen nursing colleges in the region in the next two years.

Maintaining that the government as well as private health institutions were facing a shortage of faculty, Mr. Azad said his ministry has taken a number of initiatives in the last six months to increase the human resource.

“There are more teachers available for the students now. We have also added an additional 3800 PG seats in the government sector in this academic year,” he said