Buildings Not Ready, Medical Admissions Halted at Adoni

Kurnool:  The failure to complete the construction works at Adoni Government Medical College has resulted in an abrupt halt to the admissions process for this year.

While the Medical Council of India (MCI) had sanctioned 100 seats for the institution, recent inspections revealed that the preparations for this were lagging. Only less than 50 per cent of the construction works could be finished, and this led to refusal of admissions. Land acquisition issues delayed progress of the works.

The YSRC government had sanctioned two medical colleges for Kurnool and Nandyal districts, with one already operational in Nandyal. The second medical college is situated in Arekal village, positioned on the national highway between Yemmiganur and Adoni, over a landmass of 60 acres.

In May, 2021, then chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy set the foundation for this as also 13 other medical colleges across the state. The Adoni Medical College had been granted a budgetary allocation of Rs.475 crore. Some 58.44 acres of land in Arekal village was acquired for the medical college from 18 farmers.

This medical college was aimed to be of help to the inhabitants of Yemmiganur, Pathikonda, Mantralayam, Kosigi, Alur, Kowthalam and Adoni mandals. The aim was also to provide immediate treatment for road accident victims and attention to pregnant women, so as to reduce the need to refer patients to Kurnool GGH.

The plan for the medical college complex included a teaching hospital, the medical college, a nursing college, a maternity block, a doctors' quarters, guesthouses, student hostels, IPD/OPD blocks, a central drug store, a bio-medical waste plant room, medical gas pipelines, oxygen storage tanks, an oxygen generating plant, and an open-air theater.

Only 50 per cent of the project has been completed. The private entity, KV Projects, is overseeing the construction under the supervision of APMSIDC. The estimated duration for completion of the works was two and a half years, with work commencing in January last year.

Further, the state government had allocated 71 medical professionals to the college, but they are still engaged at the Adoni area hospital and would continue their services until the completion of the structure. Till now, around Rs.40 crore has been released for the works. Additional funds are needed from the state government to complete the entire project.