Shimla: The central govt provided Rs 158 crore to Himachal Pradesh to expand medical education and increase the availability of MBBS and postgraduate seats across the state, the Union health ministry informed the Lok Sabha.In a written response to a question raised by BJP MP from Shimla, Suresh Kumar Kashyap, Union minister of state for health and family welfare Anupriya Patel said Rs 144 crore had been sanctioned for increasing 120 MBBS seats across six medical colleges in the hill state. Another Rs 14 crore has been approved to add 17 postgraduate seats at one medical college.As per the National Medical Commission, Himachal Pradesh currently has seven functional govt medical colleges offering 846 MBBS seats, along with one private medical college offering 150 MBBS seats. The state also has 307 postgraduate seats in six govt medical colleges and 93 postgraduate seats in a private institution.The Centre has also approved three new medical colleges at Chamba, Hamirpur and Nahan under the centrally-sponsored scheme for establishing medical colleges attached to existing district or referral hospitals. All three institutions are now functional, the Union minister informed.The Union ministry of health and family welfare administers the centrally sponsored scheme for establishing new medical colleges attached to existing district or referral hospitals, prioritising underserved areas and aspirational districts that lack govt or private medical college.The minister stated that public health and hospitals fell under the state list, making state govts primarily responsible for strengthening healthcare services. However, the Centre provides technical and financial assistance based on proposals submitted by states.Under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has also been established at Bilaspur. In addition, projects for super-speciality blocks have been approved at govt medical colleges in Tanda and Shimla.
