Ludhiana's 1st ESIC-run medical college to get 50 MBBS seats

Punjab- A new government medical college will soon be established in Ludhiana with 50 MBBS seats.

This will be the first public sector institution to be established in Ludhiana. Currently, there are two existing private medical colleges, namely Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) and Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).

This new government medical college will be set up by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) under the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, with 50 undergraduate (UG) MBBS seats. On this, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has agreed to provide 10 acres of land for the new campus to start functioning from the next academic session 2025.

Recently a meeting was  held in this regard which was chaired by the Chief Minister. In the meeting, MP Sanjeev Arora, who is also a member of the Central Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, was also present at the meeting.

Mr Arora said Chief Minister Mann had tasked him to identify suitable land for the establishment of the new government medical college in consultation with the municipal corporation (MC) commissioner to be handed over to the ESIC for setting up the new medical college campus in Ludhiana. He said the land would possibly be identified in or near the ESIC Model Hospital so that both the medical college and hospital facilities could function in a common campus, report TribuneIndia.

Further, Arora also informed that all the activities of the new medical college will be managed by ESIC under the Ministry of Labour and Employment and will be headed by a Dean. The 300-bed ESIC Model Hospital, which provides secondary care facilities to ESIC beneficiaries and is already a teaching hospital with NBE-recognized seats in Obstetrics & Gynecology and Pediatrics departments also plans to start teaching facilities in General Surgery as well.

On this, the ruling AAP member in the Upper House of Parliament from Punjab said “The starting of a medical college attached to the hospital, apart from adding to available medical seats, would also enhance the effectiveness of the delivery of medical services to its beneficiaries significantly”.

Along with the establishment of the new Government Medical College, a campus will also be constructed which will have staff accommodation and student hostel facilities as per NMC norms.