like four medical colleges sanctioned at Baleswar, Balangir, Koraput and Baripada, the Central Government has also approved upgradation of the Puri District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) to a full-fledged medical college and hospital. According to reports, the proposed medical college will have student intake capacity of 100 while around Rs 200 crore will be spent for the upgradation. The project cost will be borne under the Centrally-sponsored Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Surakhsa Yojana scheme.
The cost will be shared between the Centre and the State in the ratio of 75: 25. “The medical college is expected to be operational by 2016,” said State Health Secretary Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra. Meanwhile, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) of the Union Government has given its nod to set up two medical colleges in Gajapati and Rayagada districts on public private partnership (PPP) mode. Each medical college will have 100 seats and 500 beds. The projects would be executed at a cost of Rs 326 crore each, sources said.