No PPP model, Karnataka to set up govt medical colleges in all districts, says CM Siddaramaiah
Karnataka: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that the state will establish government medical colleges in all districts, including Vijayapura, rejecting the PPP model proposed earlier by the government.
He said the state government is committed to expanding public medical education, along with setting up trauma centres and super-speciality hospitals across districts.
According to the Hindu, on Friday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced in Vijayapura that the state government would take steps to ensure that government medical colleges are established in all districts, including Vijayapura.
He was speaking after launching several development projects initiated by various departments. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Ministers M.B. Patil, Laxmi Hebbalkar, HC Mahadevappa, Shivanand Patil and Byrathi Suresh, and MLAs Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, Sri Vachanananda Swamy, Matoshri Yogeshwari Mataji, Sri Abhinava Sangana Basava Shivacharya Swamy, members of Kittur Chennamma's maternal family from Jambagi A village, and others were present.
According to the The Hindu media news report, the CM said “The demand for a medical college in Vijayapura has been pending for some time. The erstwhile BJP government decided to open a medical college under PPP model. However, this proposal faced resistance. Some of you even protested against this. Ministers M.B. Patil and Shivanand Patil have appealed to me to start a government medical college here. I want to tell you today that we will not set up PPP model colleges. We will open a government medical college not only in Vijayapura but also in all those districts that do not have medical colleges. We will also establish trauma centres and super-speciality hospitals in all districts”.
“I want to appeal to all of you that there is no need to protest for this purpose. Anyway, it was not our government that mooted the PPP model but the BJP government. But we will not adopt this model. I assure you that the State government will set up and run medical colleges in all the districts,” he further added.
Siddaramaiah also said “Karnataka has 71 medical colleges, of which 22 are government colleges. I have always supported the setting up of government medical colleges. I have upheld the principle of setting up government medical colleges in all the districts, when I was the Chief Minister the first time and when I was the Deputy Chief Minister also”.
