UP govt to set up seven new medical colleges

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to set up seven new medical colleges, including one in Amethi, and operate 600 electric buses in 14 major cities of the state.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath presided over the meeting that decided to develop the district hospitals as the new medical colleges. Besides Amethi, new medical colleges would be developed in Sultanpur, Chandauli, Gonda, Bulandshahr, Auraiya and Sonebhadra. Much significance is being attached to the decision to develop new medical college in Amethi, considered to be a Congress bastion till Union minister for textiles Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

For setting up the medical college in Amethi, the cabinet decided to transfer 3.899 acre ceiling land situated in Tiloi village to medical education department.

Briefing media persons, ministers and government spokespersons Siddharth Nath Singh and Shrikant Sharma said each new medical college would be developed on 20 acre land with a cost of ₹325 crore. Singh said the Centre and state government would bear the cost on 60:40 basis.

Singh said with this the total number of medical colleges developed in the second phase in the state has gone to 14 while it got 13 medical colleges sanctioned in the first phase.

The cabinet also approved proposal to operate 600 new electric buses in 14 cities on public private partnership (PPP) model.

Sharma said the buses would be operated on gross cost contract model. Under the scheme launched to strengthen the urban transport the cities that would get 100 buses include Lucknow, Agra and Kanpur. Total cost of the scheme would be ₹965 crore and the operation would be started after completion of the biddings process.

CABINET PRESIDED OVER BY CM YOGI ADITYANATH TOOK THE DECISION TO DEVELOP THE DISTRICT HOSPITALS AS THE NEW MEDICAL COLLEGES