Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has urged Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to immediately send a detailed proposal to the Centre for setting up a medical college in Bhadrak district as the area lacks tertiary medical facility.
The state should ask the Centre to set up the medical college under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakaram (PMJVK) scheme, Pradhan said.
The petroleum and steel minister said this in a letter to the chief minister, a copy of which was released to the media on Wednesday.
"The district of Bhadrak does not have any tertiary medical facility as of now. Having a medical college in the district would be extremely helpful in providing requisite medical facilities to the people in and around Bhadrak," he said.
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakaram (PMJVK), being implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA), provides for creation of community assets, and health is one of the priority sectors under the scheme, Pradan said.
The state may forward a duly approved proposal, in consultation with its Health Department, to the MoMA for setting up the medical college, the union minister said.
The Central Government bears 60 per cent of the capital cost of the project while recurring expenditure, including manpower, will be provided by the states, he said.