The reply given by Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar to a question raised by Member of Parliament V. Vaithilingam in Lok Sabha on the demand made by Puducherry government for a medical college at Karaikal seems to suggest that the Central government is non-committal to the request for establishing the medical college at the enclave of Union Territory.
To a question on whether Centre proposes to establish a government medical college and sanction funds for the project raised by Mr. Vaithilingam on Monday (December 11, 2023), the Minister said the Union Territory has at present nine medical colleges. The nine medical colleges (two government and seven private) together has a total intake capacity of 1,830 MBBS students. The private medical college at Karaikal has provision to admit 150 students, the Minister said.
“The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare administers a centrally-sponsored scheme for establishment of medical colleges attached with existing district / referral hospitals with preference to under-served areas and aspirational districts where there is no existing government or private medical college. Under the scheme, all the envisaged 157 government medical colleges have already been approved in three phases,” the Minister said in his short reply.
The Puducherry administration had approached the Centre to establish a medical college at Karaikal after the Union Government announced its policy decision to establish a medical college in each district in the country. Chief Minister N. Rangasamy had included the demand to set up the medical college in his budget speech and had submitted a memorandum to Mr .Pawar when he visited the Union Territory last year.
MP calls on Union Minister
Mr. Vaithilingam called on Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan to raise the issue of 13 fishermen from Puducherry and Tamil Nadu in the custody of Sri Lankan Navy.
The MP handed over a letter he wrote to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar requesting Central government’s intervention in getting early release of fishermen captured by Sri Lankan Navy. The Centre should use diplomatic channels to get 13 fishermen (eight from Karaikal and five from Tamil Nadu) released from the custody of Sri Lankan Navy, the letter said.
