Hyderabad: The BRS government on Wednesday green-stamped a proposal to set up eight new medical colleges across districts, as per an order issued by health secretary Syed Ali Murtuza Rizvi. This will increase the number of medical colleges to 37.
As per the order, medical colleges will be constructed in Medchal-Malkajgiri, Jogulamba Gadwal, Narayanpet, Mulugu, Warangal, Medak, Yadadri Bhongir and Ranga Reddy, with 100 MBBS seats in each college.
With the addition of 800 seats, the current total of 3,790 seats will go up to 4590 MBBS seats in government-run medical colleges in the state.
In addition, the number of total medical colleges in the state, including both government and private, has increased from 20 pre-2014 to 56 at present, hiking the total number of seats from 2,850 to 8,340. With the new additions, a total of 9,140 medical seats will be available in the state.
There is also a possibility of hitting the 10,000 mark in case more private colleges are also set up in the next year.
The state currently tops in the country in terms of MBBS seats, with 22 MBBS seats per lakh population, and stands second for PG course seats, with 7.5 per lakh. In the 2023-24 academic year, Telangana will contribute 43 per cent of the total new medical seats nationwide, allocating 900 seats out of a total of 2,118 seats.
Health minister T. Harish Rao said that the establishment of medical colleges, alongside specialised healthcare services, has revolutionised medical education in Telangana and credited Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for the achievement.
