SCHEDULED CASTES DEPARTMENT TO OPEN MEDICAL COLLEGE

SCHEDULED CASTES DEPARTMENT TO OPEN MEDICAL COLLEGE

Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Tourism A.P. Anil Kumar said on Monday,30^th April,2012, that the Scheduled Castes Department would set up a medical college at the district headquarters .Addressing a press conference, the Minister said Rs.50 crore had been allotted by the Scheduled Caste Department to start work on the medical college. He said the college would start functioning from the next academic year. Initially, it would utilise the facilities of the District Hospital. The Minister said the district administration had already identified land for the new medical college in the government sector. He said this would be the first medical college under the Scheduled Caste Department, adding that the government had decided to open educational institutions, including engineering and medical colleges, under the Scheduled Caste Department. Mr. Anil Kumar said the District Hospital had adequate facilities that could be used initially for the new medical college.

Palakkad district has a population of 28 lakh spread over an area of 4,480 sq. km. Thirteen per cent of the population are Scheduled Castes and 10.89 per cent, Scheduled Tribes. However, medical facilities are lacking and the people have to travel to the neighbouring district of Thrissur or Tamil Nadu to get medical assistance, said said P.K. Narayanan of the Mahatma Study Centre, which has been in the forefront of the agitation for a government medical college in Palakkad. The new medical college in the government sector would be a boon to the people of Palakkad, he said. (medical)

                                                                 Prof. John Kurakar