Hospitals on rent to set up Private Medical Colleges- WB Plan for MBBS Seats increase

Kolkata: Aiming to increase the MBBS seats in the State, the Bengal Government is planning to provide hospitals on rent to set up private medical colleges. 

For this, the rent will be Rs 15,000 per bed per month in the municipal corporation areas of West Bengal, Rs 12,000 in municipal areas, and Rs 10,000 per bed per month in the rural areas. Therefore, initially i.e., during the first year, the bed use fee for a private medical college using 300 beds will be Rs 5.4 crore.

However, the fees for the beds will be doubled in the fourth year. Therefore, it will be Rs 30,000 in cities per month per bed. The Times of India has reported that the fees will rise three times in seven years as the user charges will be revised every three years. Therefore, at that time, the charges will come to Rs 45,000 per month per bed in cities. 

To set up the private medical colleges, the Bengal Government floated an expression of interest (EOI) last week, so that the number of MBBS seats can increase from 5,650 seats.

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Currently, there are 37 medical colleges in the State, and five new medical colleges are being constructed. The State's aim is to support the private medical colleges by allowing the Government hospitals of 300 beds or more for an initial period of five years, extendable up to 33 years for a user fee. 

Commenting on the issue, an official told the Times of India that if things work according to the plan, these new medical colleges can start functioning from the academic session of 2026-2027 or 2027-2028.

An official informed that private parties had requested the government to set up medical colleges and in response, the State opened a project cell under the PPP mode.

"Though the private parties have land and buildings, they lack hospitals for starting the medical college. A 300-bed hospital is needed for starting a medical college per the NMC norms. So, the state has decided to facilitate giving hospital beds on rent for 33 years. But if the private medical colleges develop their own teaching hospital as per NMC guidelines, they can opt for a shorter period for using the govt hospitals. The Bengal govt plans to facilitate health infrastructure through an MoU with private players for a period of up to 33 years, enabling them to set up private medical colleges. Thus, they can apply to the National Medical Commission simultaneously for starting their own medical college using the govt hospitals, and once they get approval, they can start setting up their own hospital as well," said the official.

Another reason for the need to set up more medical colleges is the dearth of manpower in the State hospitals. Since the Government is providing health coverage for every family in the State under the Swasthya Sathi plan, there is an additional need for doctors and other paramedical staff.

Due to this, the State CM Mamata Banerjee gave the approval to the EOI proposal to manage the shortage of healthcare staff. However, even after taking the hospital beds on rent, if the private party fails to set up a private medical college within a year, they might be given another year to establish it. However, they will need to deposit a damage fee of Rs 50 lakh for this, informed the official, further adding that the private medical colleges should have state quota seats of 50% of the total intake. 

"The fees of these private medical colleges would be fixed as per NMC norms," the official said.

Mentioning that to select the private parties, a committee of secretaries will evaluate the applications based on their technical and financial viability, the official added, "Once selected, the private parties and the state govt will enter into an agreement initially for five years, extendable up to 33 years. The private parties need to provide an undertaking as per NMC norms for the establishment of the private medical college and need to construct, operate, and maintain all the proposed medical colleges and their own teaching hospital as well."

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