The government of Maharashtra is working on reviving the long-pending proposal for launching nine new government-run medical colleges in Maharashtra.
These colleges, which have been proposed at Raigad, Satara, Gadchiroli, Buldhana, Amravati, Nandurbar, Osmanabad, and Parbhani, will also make tertiary treatment facilities available for patients.
Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray has also announced a medical college at Sindhudurg.
At present, the 24 government and civic-run medical colleges in Maharashtra have 4,080 MBBS seats. It also has 2,120 seats for the course in 17 private and minority colleges.
These proposals have been pending for over a decade. The plan for the Raigad and Nandurbar medical colleges was floated in 2009. Approvals were granted for seven new government medical colleges at Satara, Nandurbar, Alibag, Mumbai, Baramati, Gondia and Chandrapur in 2012.
Between 2014 and 2019, the Chandrapur, Gondia, Jalgaon and Baramati medical colleges were operationalised. The college at Nandurbar is expected to function from this academic year.
Some proposals, including that for a medical college in Mumbai’s suburbs, were languishing due to lack of abiding political interest. The state had identified a 25 acre plot at Gorai for the institution.