Chief Minister Pramod Sawant cleared some air over setting up a private medical college in Margao and justified the decision against the backdrop of challenges faced at the South Goa District Hospital.
In the recent budget, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced several initiatives in the health sector, including setting up two nursing colleges, an ICU department and a medical college in South Goa District Hospital. These, along with others like an Ayush Integrated Hospital in South Goa, the construction of new blood blank and an allocation towards strengthening of infrastructure at the GMC, are initiatives that were aimed to bolster healthcare in the State.
However, in every budget, the devil is in the detail, and the onus is on the government to explain its action plan. It is intriguing why the government, which is preparing for a nursing college on the top two floors of the South Hospital with necessary logistics and classrooms, suddenly does an about-turn and revisits its 2019 plan to put up a private medical college instead. There is no clue where the government will shift the nursing college from the Margao hospital and whether one of the two proposed colleges in the budget will remain in Margao.
If we recall, in September 2019, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane announced plans to set up a new medical college over a 10-acre land near the new district hospital. He had indicated that as per norms, there has to be a 600-bedded hospital linked to the college within a specific distance of each other. A year later, Rane decided not to pursue the private medical college plans saying "it was not a priority for the government". He steered away from controversy, saying he had "no ego" while maintaining that the government will, instead, proceed with plans for a nursing college at the South Goa district hospital. Ever since, Rane was categorical, saying that "no private college will come up at the district hospital."
The question now is, what has changed between 2020 and now? Back then, the argument was that deserving students would get more seats and Goa would produce more doctors. But, against these positives, there were many questions on the need for a private medical college, its role vis-a-vis government-run medical college at Bambolim, seat reservations, capitation fees and whether there is a genuine Goan interest at heart.
While the private medical college fine print is yet to be out, going by the affairs at the district hospital, a medical college attached to it makes sense, at least from the healthcare point of view. The Opposition raised the issue in the recently held Assembly session that the new South Goa district hospital has turned out to be a referral hospital, with patients requiring specialised or specific treatment referred to GMC frequently.
With other factors remaining constant, the government will still have to explain how a private medical college which was not a priority in 2020, became one a little over two years later.
