After trying to popularise the public private partnership (PPP) concept in the infrastructure sector, the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh has decided to take a step further and introduce PPP in the social sector such as education.
In order to address the acute shortage of medical professionals in Uttar Pradesh, especially in rural areas, the Mayawati government has decided to establish five new medical colleges and two paramedical colleges under the public private partnership (PPP).
According to sources in the medical education department, each of the five medical colleges would have MBBS degree course for 100 students every year while the two paramedical institutions would train students as lab technicians, nursing and other in para medical streams as well.
The five medical colleges and associated hospitals that are to come up under the PPP formula are Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar Allopathic Government Medical College in Kannauj, Manyawar Kanshi Ramji Government Medical College, Orai in Jalaun district, Super Facility Medical College and Hospital, Chakrapanpur in Azamgarh district, an Allopathic Medical College in Saharanpur and Banda Medical College in Banda.
The two paramedical institutes are Safai Institute of Paramedical Science, Safai in Etawah district and Manyawar Kanshiram Paramedical Sciences in Jhansi. While the Safai unit would have courses of nine paramedical disciplines of 480 students every year, the Jhansi institute will have ten paramedical disciplines of 600 students every year.
?Private companies have been invited to participate in the bidding process in which the developers will be given the responsibility of developing, managing and running these medical colleges along with associated hospitals and paramedical colleges on a profitable basis. The last date for submitting the request for qualification (RFQ) is July 31,? said a source.
Stating the reason behind the project, the official said the health sector is in dire need for professionals and there is a huge gap between what is being churned out by the government and few private medical colleges and the requirement of doctors and trained staff. ?At present, there is one doctor per 2,000 people in the state and most of them do not want to be posted in rural areas. Hence, there are no doctors, pathologists, nurses or even anesthetists in the villages. Even if we start churning out 500 doctors and 1,000 odd paramedics every year, it will take us at least 20-odd years to bring the ratio to one doctor per 1,000 people.?
The government’s effort to allow private sector into medical education is a step in this direction. All these five medical colleges and two paramedic colleges were originally planned to be built by the state government itself, but they were left midway for various reasons.
?While some of the colleges have around 80% of the physical infrastructure ready, others have only 20-30% ready. These properties, along with 100 acre, will be handed over to the selected bidders to start functioning as professional medical colleges,? said the official, adding that since the need for training medical professions is severe, the government has decided to give the 100 acre as a sweetener to woo private companies.
?This project has been designed against heavy odds. This is the reason that the government has decided to allow the winning bidder to develop the medical college in 25 acre, as per the Medical Council of India (MCI) norms and allow them to set up any other educational facility or even upgrade the college to a PG college or even a university later on.?
According to sources, the bidders would have to invest between 300-500 crore for each of the institutes, depending upon the kind of government investment that has already gone into infrastructure.