Bhubaneswar, Oct. 17: The experiment of setting up medical colleges in the state in public-private partnership (PPP) mode has run into rough weather with most of the projects not taking off.
The state government is now pinning its hopes on colleges to be established under the Centre-sponsored schemes and also by central public sector undertakings.
The latest PPP experiment to fail is Sardar Rajas Medical College at Jaring in Kalahandi. The college has been closed down following de-recognition by the Medical Council of India.
Western Odisha Development Council, (WODC) the public sector partner, rescinded its MoU with Selvam Charitable Trust on September 1 citing that the private educational trust did not fulfil its obligations and violated the key terms and conditions of the agreement leading to the withdrawal of recognition by the medical council.
The Balangir medical college project is a similar case. The WODC had signed an MoU with the RVS Group for setting up the medical college. The WODC had provided Rs 20 crore and the government had given 25 acres for its campus. Construction of the administrative building also started. But the project could not continue despite several attempts. Now, the WODC has rescinded its MoU with the RVS.
New Delhi-based Sahyog Foundation of India was roped in for the medical college project in Keonjhar. The state government has allotted 20 acres of land free of cost and $2.16 million since the private partners were NRIs. However, the project has not made much progress.
In January 2014, the state government had invited bidders for proposed medical colleges in Gajapati and Rayagada districts in the PPP mode. The state government offered to provide land free of cost and funds. To ensure wider participation of private partners, the state government had also organised an investors' meet at Hyderabad in July last year. However, no bidder came forward for the two projects.
Following such experiences with the PPP model, the state government is now looking forward to five medical colleges to be set up at Koraput, Balangir, Balasore, Baripada and Puri under the Centre-sponsored Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana. The Centre provides 75 per cent of the project cost and the remaining 25 per cent is paid by the state. The district headquarters hospitals will be upgraded and attached to the medical colleges. Admission to these five medical colleges with 100 MBBS seats each is expected to start from 2016-17.
A senior health official said: "The execution of these medical colleges projects have started and civil constructions are going on. While L&T is executing the projects at Puri, Balasore and Baripada at a total project cost of Rs 618 crore, the Koraput and Balangir projects are being executed by the Shapoorji and Pallonji Group for Rs 389 crore.
"The progress of the projects is satisfactory except for Puri," said the official adding that it was delayed due to land problems, which have now been sorted and the construction work was expected to pick up after October. So far, the Centre has released only Rs 35 crore out of the Rs 2,400 crore meant for the five projects. But, the state government has already provided Rs 500 crore as part of its share, said the official.
The state government is also looking forward to two medical colleges and hospitals being set up by two central PSUs - National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) - at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore each. While the NTPC is establishing the medical college at Sundargarh, the MCL will have one at Talcher. The two projects are being executed by the public sector National Building Construction Corporation.
