3 new medical colleges coming up in Andhra, Centre gives go-ahead

Visakhapatnam: The Centre has given a nod to three new medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh.

Union minister of state for health and family welfare Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar said three medical colleges are coming up at Paderu (Tribal pocket) in Vizag district, Machilipatnam in Krishna district, and Pidiguralla in Guntur district.

In a reply to Rajya Sabha member V Vijayasai Reddy, the union minister said that three medical colleges were cleared under the centrally sponsored scheme. These new medical colleges will be attached to existing district hospitals.

The minister also said that the government through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare would sponsor the three colleges in Andhra Pradesh. The union government had also cleared the proposal for the upgradation of existing medical colleges under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).

Three colleges of Siddhartha Medical College in Vijayawada city of Krishna district, Government Medical College at Anantapur, and Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences at Tirupati in Chittoor district were approved for upgradation with additional infrastructure and facilities under the PMSSY.

The AP government has been giving more priority to setting up medical infrastructure in various parts of the state.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy asked district collectors to gear up to meet the impending Omicron variant. He asked collectors to complete 100 percent vaccination in the districts to mitigate the fatalities due to the virus in the coming days.

He wanted the collectors to complete 100 percent first dose vaccination by December 31 and also speed up the second dose of vaccination in the state.