ELURU: The State government has accorded permission to establish a government medical college at Eluru on the premises of the existing district headquarters hospital. The government has sanctioned `266 crore for the medical college and released `20 crore for 2018-19 financial year for the construction of the hospital.

Of the 13 districts in the State, 11 have government medical colleges. Only West Godavari and Vizianagaram do not have government medical colleges and teaching hospitals. Recently, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu assured that the government would take steps to  establish medical colleges in these two districts as well. Accordingly, West Godavari district administration submitted a detailed proposal for a medical college with 100 UG seats at Eluru. 

According to the report, the 518-bed district hospital in the town has General Medicine, General Surgery, Paediatrics, Orthopaedics, Ophthalmology, TB&CD and Skin & STD wings with supportive services like blood bank, diagnostic lab, etc. The total land available is 22.97 acres of which 12 acres of land is vacant. The hospital is big enough to accommodate a medical college and a hospital with 100 under-graduate (UG) seats.  

As per the Medical Council of India (MCI) norms, the existing infrastructure, bed strength, land and clinical material is sufficient for the establishment of a medical college. A medical college building should have a plinth area of 2,95,071 sqft, as per the MCI norms. Two separate buildings in a plinth area of 14,486 sft for hostels to accommodate 380 students (190 boys and 190 girls) are also proposed, officials said.