Govt approves ESIC Medical College in Haridwar

In a major initiative which will help in strengthening and augmenting the health services in Uttarakhand, the Central government has decided to set up an Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College in the State. The new medical college will come up in Haridwar. The medical college will admit 50 MBBS students per batch and it will utilize the infrastructure of the existing ESIC Hospital in Haridwar.

The Nation Medical Council gave the approval for establishment of ESIC Haridwar Medical College in pursuance of the decision taken in the 198^th meeting of the Employees State Insurance Corporation held at ESIC Headquarters in New Delhi on June 30 this year. Under the proposal, the medical college will be started using the infrastructure and available resources of the existing ESIC hospital.

Expressing happiness at the decision, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Minister of Labour and Employment for approving the establishment of an ESIC Medical College in Haridwar. He said that under the guidance of PM Modi, important work is continuously being carried out in the field of health and medical education in Uttarakhand. Dhami said that the establishment of the ESIC Medical College in Haridwar will expand medical education opportunities in the State and provide another important institution for MBBS education for the youth. It will also help further strengthen medical facilities in the region.

“Establishing a medical college using the existing ESIC hospital infrastructure will ensure effective use of available health resources. This will improve coordination between medical education and health services and strengthen the health services,’’ he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that Uttarakhand currently has five government medical colleges. These colleges are Government Medical College, Dehradun, Government Medical College Haldwani, Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Medical College, Srinagar, Soban Singh Jeena Government Institute of Medical Science and Research, Almora and Government Medical College Haridwar. The  State also has the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh. The construction work of Government Medical College, Rudrapur and Government Medical College, Pithoragarh is also underway and the State government is trying to get the necessary approval from the NMC to start MBBS courses in these colleges as well.