State mulls another 258 medical seats at Rims

Ranchi: The Jharkhand govt is planning to increase 258 medical seats at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) in its undergraduate (UG), post-graduate (PG) and super-speciality courses to strengthen the state’s healthcare infrastructure and medical education.

Health department’s additional chief secretary (ACS) Ajoy Kumar Singh in a letter to Rims director sent on Tuesday, asked him to prepare a detailed proposal to increase the seats and get it approved by the Rims governing body council.

“The governing body will send the approved proposal to state govt and the health department. Thereafter, department will assess the proposal and send that to the Centre for increasing medical seats in the premier health care institution of the state. The proposal can also include renovation plans of old buildings, demolition of dilapidated and unusable structures for construction of new buildings, and development of additional infrastructure as required,” Singh said.

Seats would be increased from 180 to 250 in UG courses, 176 to 275 in PG, and 11 to 100 in super-speciality as per the proposed plan, sources added.

“Financial assistance of Rs 1.5 crore per additional seat is provided for increasing UG, PG, and super-speciality seats in medical colleges under the centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) of the Union govt to strengthen and upgrade govt medical facilities. Following the seat upgradation, around Rs 387 crore will be sanctioned for infrastructural upgradation of Rims,” Singh added.

Proposals to increase UG seats at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital (MGMMCH) in Jamshedpur from 150 to 250 and PG seats from 49 to 200 under the CSS got Union govt’s approval.

“Similarly, the proposal to raise UG seats at the Shaheed Nirmal Mahto Medical College and Hospital (SNMMCH) in Dhanbad from 100 to 250 and PG seats from 19 to 200 has also received approval from the Centre in May. Now, an ambitious expansion plan is being prepared for Rims. All these steps are being taken to strengthen Jharkhand’s healthcare facility and reduce the lack of doctors persisting in the state,” Singh said.