Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has set an ambitious target to double the number of MBBS seats in the state’s medical colleges within the next five years. Alongside this initiative, 5,000 doctors and 3,000 health workers will be recruited soon, announced Health & Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling on Saturday.
“The government plans to increase the number of MBBS seats in various medical colleges from the current 2,500 to 5,000 over the next five years,” Mahaling said while sharing details of the initiative.
He highlighted several programs aimed at strengthening the healthcare infrastructure in the state. These include recruiting 5,000 doctors and 3,000 health workers across various categories to fill existing vacancies. Additionally, steps are being taken to start postgraduate courses in all newly established medical colleges and increase the bed capacity in district headquarters hospitals to 400.
The Minister noted that Odisha established its fourth government medical college after a gap of nearly 60 years. Under the current administration, the number of government medical colleges in the state has risen to 11.
“This progress has been possible due to the BJP-led Central government’s special policy to establish one government medical college in each district with a financial sharing ratio of 60:40 between the Centre and the state,” Mahaling added. He assured that Odisha will fully leverage this policy to further strengthen its healthcare infrastructure.
