4th govt medical college of Chhattisgarh in Raigarh

            Raipur, August 19, 2008: The Raman government has started construction of a 500 bedded government medical college hospital in tribal dominated Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh, bordering Orissa, which would be the fourth one in the state, officials said today.

            Spending Rs 83 crore a new medical college hospital was being constructed in Raigarh, for which the Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh had laid the foundation Stone on August 13, state Medical Education Department officials said here.

            Chhattisgarh has a very poor doctor-people ratio in both general and dental services and this fourth medical college would help in bridging that gap, they said.

            Spread over 40 acre land, the Raigarh Medical College would have 21 departments, in which 100 students would study MBBS course, the officials said.

            The medical college would also have a 500-beded hospital, for which a campus was being constructed in the Raigarh district headquarters, they said adding with permission from the Medical Council of India admission would be started for Raigarh medical college hospital once the construction of the campus is completed.

            Currently the state government runs three medical colleges for MBBS course in Raipur, Bilaspur and Bastar district headquarters, in which 250 students take admissions every year, and once the Raigarh medical college start, the total seats would increase to 350, they said.

            On July 10, last Chhattisgarh assembly had also passed a bill to set up the first ever Medical Education University in the state.

            To enhance the health education sector, the state government wanted to have the  Chhattisgarh Ayush abum Swasthya Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya (Chhattisgarh Health and Medical Sciences University), Health and Health Education Minister Amar Agrawal had told the state Assembly.

            All the educational institutions of Allopath, Homeopathy, Ayurvedic, Dental, Physiotherapy and Nursing would be under this Medical University, the Minister said.

Replying to a debate on the bill to set up the University, he had said when the state was formed in November 2000 the state had four health education institutions and today that had gone up to 44, for which the University was needed and it would be located in Raipur, he added.

            The ratio between Chhattisgarh and that of national level on health sector was worst as at the national level when there should be one doctor per 3500 people, the state had 13,200 people against each doctor, he said.

            Also for every 7,000 people there should be one Dental doctor at the national level but in Chhattisgarh the ratio was 70,000 people for a dentist, because of which this University was needed to streamline the things, the Minister said.