Modi promises 10,000 more MBBS seats

Coimbatore: In a  bonanza for medical aspirants, as many as  10,000 additional MBBS seats will be created in the medical colleges across the country, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Coimbatore on Tuesday.

In Tamil Nadu,  four medical colleges in Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli and Madurai will be upgraded and 355 more MBBS seats will be created, the Prime Minister said.

On his maiden visit to the industrial city of Coimbatore, which is an emerging BJP stronghold, the Prime Minister  inaugurated the Rs 580 crore building for Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College and Hospital and formally handed it over the college to the Tamil Nadu Government here at a glittering function.

“The central government is committed to upgrading  medical facilities,  and infrastructure in the country. We propose to increase 10,000 more MBBS seats at the medical colleges across the county. So far, the approvals have been given for 23 colleges to increase 700 MBBS seats.

Of this, the approval has been given for four colleges in Tamil Nadu including for Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli and Madurai to increase 355 MBBS seats”, Mr Modi said.

He said the ESIC Medical College Hospital  constructed at a  cost of '580 crores on a 36 acre land  at Varatharajapuram in the city would be run by the state government.

This, he said, was a proof of his government's commitment to cooperative federalism.