Vijayawada: CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy set to inaugurate 3 medical colleges tomorrow

Vijayawada : An important milestone in the field of medical education and healthcare has been achieved in the State as the first batch of aspiring MBBS students will begin attending classes at five of the 17 newly constructed government medical colleges, readied after almost a century.

Notably, in the last 100 years, previous governments could only establish 11 medical colleges in the southern State, beginning with King George Hospital, established in Vizag in 1923. These new colleges are set to transform the State’s medical education and healthcare sector, especially in rural areas.

Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) has readied three medical colleges - Rajahmundry Medical College and Eluru Medical College in Godavari region and Machilipatnam Medical College in Krishna region. These colleges have spacious classrooms, state-of-the-art laboratories, libraries, auditoriums and accommodation facilities for boys and girls, and teaching staff. Each college has an intake capacity of 150 students.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will virtually inaugurate the newly built Government Medical Colleges in Rajahmundry, Machilipatnam and Eluru on Friday (September 15).

In addition to these three new medical colleges, MEIL is also readying infrastructure for medical education and healthcare in Piduguralla, Bapatla, Markapuram, Madanapalli, Anantapuram, Penugonda, Tirupati, Amalapuram and Palakollu. These colleges are poised to shape the future of healthcare in these regions.

Rajahmundry Medical College

Spread over 3.37 acres, this college comprises six blocks - medical college, accommodation for students and staff and a nursing college. Alongside the main blocks, they are constructing laboratories, library room, lecture halls, biomedical waste disposable room, kitchen and canteen facilities. The total built-up area is 11,30,250 sq ft.

Machilipatnam Medical College

Located in close proximity to Bay of Bengal, this college is a remarkable project covering 64.38 acres. It includes In-Patient Department (IPD), Out-Patient Department (OPD), diagnostic block, medical college, and various other essential facilities. Overcoming challenges posed by the coastal location and its soil, MEIL has used innovative techniques such as geotextile, geo-grid, and Granular Sub-Base (GSB) for strong foundations, as the soil-bearing capacity is inadequate for construction. To further facilitate construction, the company created a 1.15 crore litre capacity special storage water tank with the help of geo memorial sheets to store non-salty water. Daily construction work here requires around 50,000 litres of water. Three tankers, each with a capacity of 4,000 litres, carry water on 10 trips daily. The work was completed in seven blocks.

Eluru Medical College

Located 35 km from Vijayawada airport, this college is coming up in the heart of the city, fulfilling the 50-year-old dream of the people of Eluru. MEIL is constructing a medical college, a 24/7 acute care block, an expansion of the existing building, hostels, staff quarters, Dharmasalas, canteens, and more spread over 11,27,230 sq ft. Works on five critical blocks have been completed.