Mumbai: Gujarat model to build more medical schools

The Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a proposal to build new medical colleges and multispeciality hospitals in partnership with private entities The publicprivatepartnership and private finance initiative PPPPFI scheme will be implemented in consultation with the International Finance Corporation IFCSimilar PPPs are in operation in the neighbouring states of Gujarat and Karnataka NITI Aayog has conceptualised a scheme based on successful experiments in the two states Maharashtra will follow NITI Ayogrsquos model for inviting investors The Centre will offer viability gap funding to the PPA projectsThe PPPPFI will work for upgrading the existing colleges for more MBBS students up to 250 per college PG and super speciality seats building green fieldfullservice medical instituteshospitals nursing and paramedical schools with full control of the stateAlso ReadBMC to soon get jumbo medical oxygen bottling plant at Mahul RoadA 100MBBS seat medical college will need an investment of Rs 800 crore In PPP the private partner will return the facility it has built and operated to the government after 1015 years The government will have 30 per cent share in the expenditure and it will have the ownership clinical and educational services under its control The CMO said the industry department may come up with a package incentive scheme to attract investment in remote areas where medical facilities are sparse An empowered group led by the Chief Secretary will verify proposals and approve them if found fit for the PPP modelThe new colleges will add 1000 PG seats in three years and 2600 UG seats every year for the next ten years The outdoor patients department will examine one crore more and the indoor will have 10 lakh more The government proposes to conduct 2500 more surgeries every year and have 200 more super speciality seats from 2026 The new hospitals will also create skilled and unskilled jobsCurrently the public healthmedical education department and municipal bodies provide healthcare through staterun district hospitals and medical colleges but the rural parts dont get covered by the hospitals that provide speciality and super speciality The rural population travels to the cities but the majority of them cannot afford expensive treatment in urban private hospitals The state and municipalrun hospitals like the ones in Mumbai are always overcrowded and burdened The private medical colleges most of which are run by the organisations affiliated with influential politicians from the current government are also there but they donrsquot match the staterun facilities in terms of concessions offered to the poorStaterun hospitals and medical colleges donrsquot have enough doctors due to the vacancies that arenrsquot filled because of the shortage of qualified people that poorly reflects a ratio of 064 MBBS doctors per 1000 people The super specialists number is 15th of the total requirementThe CMO said the PPA concession agreements will be in tune with NITI Aayogrsquos model It said ldquoThe welfare of patients and employees will be ensured It will also be ensured that the private partner gets returns on his investment A separate authority and mechanism will be formed to see the scheme get implemented by 2030rdquoAccording to information NITI Aayog has developed a PPA model on the arrangements that are operative in the states of Gujarat and Karnataka In this the private partner is supposed to design build finance operate and maintain the medical college and also upgrade operate and maintain the associated district hospital with a minimum annual student intake of 150 MBBS seats The staterun district hospitals which are already there will be the statersquos contribution to the partnership30 per centGovtrsquos share in the expenditure of colleges created under the modelDo it pleaseChief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday night Pawar said they requested the governor to not delay the appointment of 12 people of eminence to the upper house as the Cabinetrsquos proposal is pending with him for 10 months ldquoThe governor heard us and said he would take appropriate decisionrdquo said Pawar after the meeting PicRaj Bhavan