The Tamil Nadu government gave its “in principle” consent to acquire two medical colleges of the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) in the state.
The state government, however, said it would take over the two medical colleges subject to certain conditions, including the corporation committing to bear the entire balance capital cost of Rs 571.23 crore.
In a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam said, “The sudden and drastic decision of the ESIC not to admit new students and to exit from the medical education came as a rude shock to students studying in these colleges”.
The chief minister said the state government was ready to bear the recurring expenditure of these colleges.
He said the recurring expenditure of the hospital would be met as per the prevailing ESI pattern of reimbursement, where 87.5 per cent is being met by the Union government.
While the state said it would not lay off the ESI staff working in these colleges, it is expecting them agree to work as per the state government pay scales and regulations.
It said the hospitals at these colleges would continue to function as the ESI hospitals serving the insured patients (industrial workers and their families) as requested by the ESI Corporation.
At present, 65 per cent of seats in the ESIC medical are being availed exclusively by the state students, 15 per cent is open to the all-India quota and the remaining 20 per cent for the ESI staff. After takeover, the medical seats would be shared as per the current norms for government Medical Colleges, which is 85 per cent for state quota and 15 per cent for the all-India quota, the state government said.
The title of the land and buildings should be transferred to the state as per the conditionality of the Medical Council of India (MCI), according to the state.
The medical college in Chennai at KK Nagar operating from 2013-14, with an undergraduate intake of 100 students each year, also has 38 postgraduate students enrolled. The other one is a proposed medical college at Coimbatore, which is under construction and is yet to get the MCI approval.
The medical college-and hospital at Chennai is being established at an indicated cost of Rs 494.62 crore and the Coimbatore project is estimated to cost Rs 580.57 crore.
One of the conditions indicated by the ESIC was the state would have to provide a total Rs 571.23 crore, including 376.42 crore for the Chennai project and Rs 194.81 crore for the Coimbatore project, towards balance liabilities.
The chief minister also said the cost at which these medical college projects had been undertaken was very high, and added according to the state government estimates, it worked out to be around Rs 200 crore.
The decision to take over the facility subject to conditions is “with a view to resolving the uncertainty regarding the continuance of these two projects, ensuring they are not abandoned mid-way and to allay fears amongst the students who had been legitimately and validly admitted,” the chief minister said.
