Bhubaneswar: Medical College will be set up in all district headquarters of the state, informed Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling on completion of 100 days of BJP government in Odisha. 

"As part of the top 21 promises made by the Mohan Majhi-led BJP government in Odisha, the medical colleges will be established in all district headquarters of the state in five years. The blueprint in this regard is being prepared," he told reporters. 

Speaking about the project, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi after assuming the office in 2014 had framed a new rule for setting up medical colleges in all districts of the country. Accordingly, the medical colleges have been set up in Odisha on the basis of central and state share of 60:40.  

At present, 11 medical colleges are functioning in the state. Two more medical colleges are in the pipeline at Talcher and Kandhamal, he added.

The Odisha University of Health Sciences (OUHS), an affiliating university that covers over 200 medical and para-medical colleges, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with six premier educational institutions in the country for advancing research in the medical sector.

The Minister said that the chief objective of these MoUs was to ensure the exchange of ideas between our undergraduate MBBS doctors, doctors pursuing postgraduate courses, and the doctors in Ayurvedic Colleges and Homoeopathic Colleges with the professionals in the premier research institutions in the country and abroad.

He said that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has assured to take all steps to fill up all doctor and paramedical staff posts lying vacant in the medical facilities across the state soon.