Health secretary Shivendu addresses the investors at the meeting in Ranchi. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Oct. 31: The state government, which claims to have received as many as 35 proposals for setting up medical colleges and five proposals for super-speciality hospitals, today unveiled its policy guidelines for the medical sector for the first time.

The guidelines were unveiled by health secretary Shivendu at an interactive meeting with prospective investors. Prominent among those who turned up at today’s meeting was Birla Institute of Technology, besides two potential investors from New Delhi.

Proposals have also been received for setting up nursing schools and para-medical institutions as well, said the health secretary.

The state government offered soft loans up to Rs 5 crore for purchase of land and equipment, one-time grant for medical colleges and to develop infrastructure like roads, electricity and water.

Once the proposals are screened by an expert committee and accepted, the projects will have to be completed within three years, said Shivendu. The institutions will also be required to induct a state government representative in the managing committees and give an undertaking that they will not charge patients more than charges prevailing at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

The medical colleges will have to reserve half the seats for students hailing from the state and admission will be taken on the basis of the entrance test conducted by the state public service commission.

Incentives would be greater for investors setting up medical institutions in the backward districts, announced the secretary. The department has classified the 22 districts into five categories.

The state, the secretary asserted, faced an acute shortage of medical manpower and private investment could play a decisive role in helping the state come out of the trap.

The government will play a pro-active role, assured the secretary, if the investors happen to be serious. “I will not promise the moon right now, but the government will not be found wanting if the projects are viable,” he asserted.

Investors welcomed the policy details unveiled at the meeting today. The incentives, they felt, are attractive. But they voiced their apprehension over the availability of land as well as the law and order situation in the state.

Shiv Dutt Sharma, representing a private trust interested in setting up a medical college in Deoghar, hoped that the government would not sit over the proposals. The investors wanted an assurance that they would not face any problem in acquiring land or during construction.