Providing a major boost to the Higher Education sector in Chhattisgarh, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has approved 100 seats for the new medical college in Surguja district, officers informed on Friday.
After recommendation from MCI, the Union Government has accorded permission to receive admissions for the academic session 2016-17 at the new medical college located at Ambikapur, they informed.
Initially 100 seats have been approved for the college which would be the sixth medical college of Chhattisgarh.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and State Health Minister Ajay Chandrakar have thanked Union Health Minister JP Nadda for gifting tribal-dominated Surguja region with a medical college.
According to Health Department officials, after approval of Surguja Medical College, the numbers of MBBS seats in Chhattisgarh would reach 800. Out of these, 650 are in Government colleges while 150 are for a private college.
They further informed that the admission for the current academic session will start from August 1, 2016.
Five medical colleges — Pt Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Raipur, CIMS, Bilaspur, late Shri lakhiram Agrawal Memorial Medical College Raigarh, Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Medical College, Bhilai, Government Medical College, Jagdalpur and Government Medical College, Rajnandgaon are already functioning in the State.