The Centre would consider raising the current allocation of Rs 100 crore for upgrading Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) to Rs 150 crore in view of escalating costs, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss said here today.
At a function to lay the foundation stone for the nursing college building and hostel as part of upgrade of BMCRI, he asked the state to forward a proposal to the Centre, seeking enhancement of grants. BMCRI is one of the 11 colleges in India to get assistance under the Prime Minister’s Swasthya Suraksha Yojana scheme, he said.
The scheme aims at uprading BMRCI to the level of AIIMS with the Centre spending Rs 100 crore and the state Rs 20 crore, taking the expenditure to Rs 120 crore, he said. The Centre would also consider the state’s proposal to set up a centre for excellence in Mental Health at Dharwad, he said.
The Centre has also proposed establishing a Regional Institute of Para Medical Sciences in Bangalore at a cost of Rs 75 crore and the state has already identified land for it. Ramchandra Gowda, state minister for medical education, who also spoke, urged the Centre to consider its proposal for establishing a Geriatric Medicine wing in Victoria Hospital premises at a cost of Rs 4 crore.