Government to churn out a lakh medical graduates in Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam: The target of the government is to add 75 more government medical institutions by 2020-2022 in the country and churn out one lakh medical graduates, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey said on Sunday.

Addressing a conference at Gayatri Vidya Parishad Medical Healthcare and Technology that focused on 'Heart-its functions and diseases, awareness on prevention and recent advances in cardiac care' organised to mark the 'World Heart Day', he said, "There is a medical college in every State.

Recently, a medical college was established in Sikkim. Next, we are planning to launch another medical college in Ladakh," the Minister said. Choubey said that of the 536 medical colleges in India, approximately 50 per cent were in the private sector.

"In every State, there is a medical college. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance, both UG and PG seats were increased in medical colleges across India. In addition, a total of 75 government medical college hospitals in India would be upgraded into super specialty hospitals, including three in Andhra Pradesh," he said.

Sharing details about the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Mangalagiri, the Minister said the Government of India had already spent Rs 500 crore of the sanctioned budget of Rs 1,618 crore to the institution and it would be readied by next September.

Describing Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone as the world-class facility for manufacturing of medical devices, he said the government was taking big strides to develop the landscape of the healthcare in the country.

Later, he inaugurated an accident and emergency unit on the campus. More than 1,200 students attended the conference and the institution staff said that an attempt was made to gain an entry into Guinness World Record for the largest participation.