In a significant development, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has given its approval for the opening of a government medical college in the Kalahandi district of Odisha, with 100 MBBS seats. The NMC nod has paved the way for the medical college to start admitting students from the current academic year.

The Office of the Collector and District Magistrate, Kalahandi, shared the news on Twitter and said, “National Medical Commission has approved opening of Govt Medical College at Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi with 100 MBBS seats from the academic session 2023-24.”

The government of Odisha had earlier announced that it would set up four new medical colleges in Kalahandi, Talcher, Jajpur, and Kandhamal. Among these, the Government Medical College and Hospital, Kalahandi has been constituted at an investment of more than 200 crore rupees, with 60% of the total amount sanctioned by the Central Government. The state will bear the entire cost of recurring infrastructure.

According to sources, the construction work of the academic and administrative blocks, hostels, and staff quarters for the 100-seat medical college is almost complete, and the construction work of the academic building is ongoing and expected to be completed soon. The college has been set up on the outskirts of Bhawanipatna and has been built on 36 acres of land.

Earlier, a private party had attempted to run a medical college in Kalahandi district on government land, but the venture had failed. The State had first tried to set up a medical college in Kalahandi district around 20 years ago in 2004, but it was unsuccessful.

With the opening of GMC, Kalahandi, it has become the third medical college in the impoverished Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput (KBK) region after the medical colleges in Koraput (2017) and Balangir (2018).

This development is expected to bring good news to the medical aspirants in Odisha, as it will provide them with more opportunities to pursue their dreams of becoming doctors and contribute to the healthcare sector of the state.