ESIC medical college to start in 2011-12

The proposed Rs 600 crore medical college and hospital to be set up by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) at Bhubaneswar is likely to start in 2011-12.

While the required 25 acres of land has been identified near Jagannathpur, on the outskirts of the city, the corporation has sanctioned Rs 2.5 crore to be deposited with the Orissa government towards the land premium.

After the land acquisition is complete, required tender will be floated by ESIC for the construction of the medical college and hospital.

“The tendering process will take about 3 months time and the construction will take about an year. The medical college project is expected to be commissioned in 2011-12”, a senior official of the state labour and employment department said.

The project comprises of a medical college, a hospital, a dental college and a college of nursing among others. However, the number of seats in the medical college will be decided by the Medical Council of India (MCI).

It may be noted, ESIC is setting up 16 such medical colleges across the country. The Orissa project got delayed due to the difficulty in the selection of the location for the project. While the state government wanted it to come up at Bolangir, the corporation rejected the proposal citing absence of the insured persons in the area. Subsequently, the state government sent its proposal for Bhubaneswar which was accepted by ESIC.

This is in contrast with states like Himachal Pradesh where the medical college has started operating in rented accommodation with intake of students from this academic year.