Vijayawada: Serve poor, doctors told

Vijayawada : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday inaugurated five new government medical colleges across the state. After personally inaugurating the Vizianagaram Medical College, the Chief Minister virtually inaugurated the remaining four located at Rajamahendravaram, Eluru, Machilipatnam and Nandyala.

The new medical colleges will help improve tertiary and curative medical care, and augment public health systems, said Reddy addressing medical students and faculty. He advised the students to become good doctors and serve the poor, as people have great expectations about them. Stating that the government had spent as much as Rs 2.35 lakh crore on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) welfare schemes for the underprivileged, the chief minister said doctors too should help the poor with the same commitment.

The newly inaugurated colleges, each constructed with an average cost of Rs 500 crore, have added 750 MBBS seats to the state. Out of the 17 new medical colleges planned for the state at a cost of Rs 8,480 crore, five colleges have begun their academic sessions this year.

Five more colleges at Pulivendula, Paderu, Adoni, Markapur and Madanapalle are expected to open in 2024 while the remaining seven colleges are expected to open later. Meanwhile, Special Chief Secretary of Health and Family Welfare M T Krishna Babu said that eligible students can take admission in the new colleges by paying just Rs 10,000.