Union Minister J P Nadda speaks in the Rajya Sabha.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Funds for setting up new medical colleges attached to existing referral hospitals in underserved areas are shared between the Centre and states in the ratio of 90:10 for northeastern and special category states and 60:40 for others, the government told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh slammed the government over Union Health Minister Health Minister J P Nadda's reply in the Rajya Sabha, terming it "baffling".
In a post on 'X' he said that on one hand, the Narendra Modi government is "denying" special category status to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar on the ground that "the very idea of special category status was abolished in early 2015".
"On the other hand, it answers a question by saying that 'the fund sharing mechanism between the Central and State Governments is in the ratio of 90:10 for North Eastern and Special Category States'," the Congress leader said.
"What is going on? Are Chandrababu Naidu-garu and Nitish Kumar-ji even aware of this?" Ramesh posed.
Responding to BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya's question whether the government intends to set up one medical college in every district of West Bengal, Nadda said, the Union Health Ministry administers a centrally sponsored scheme for the establishment of new medical colleges "attached with existing district/referral hospitals' with preference to underserved areas and aspirational districts, where there is no existing government or private medical college".
"The fund-sharing mechanism between the Centre and state governments is in the ratio of 90:10 for North Eastern and Special Category States, and 60:40 for others," the Union minister said.
"Under the scheme, all the envisaged 157 government medical colleges have already been approved in three phases including 11 medical colleges in West Bengal at Birbhum (Rampurhat), Cooch Behar, Diamond Harbour, Purulia, Raiganj (North Dinajpur), Barasat, Uluberia, Arambagh, Jhargram, Tamluk, Jalpaiguri.
"However, no proposal for setting up of medical college at Dakshin Dinajpur, Alipurduar, Kalimpong and Paschim Burdwan were received from West Bengal," Nadda said in response to Bhattacharya's another question.
The BJP MP from West Bengal had asked if the government is aware that there is no medical college in Dakshin Dinajpur, Alipurduar, Kalimpong and Paschim Burdwan districts of the state.
"Under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), an AIIMS has also been established at Kalyani. There are 5,375 UG seats available in West Bengal for the academic year 2024-25. As informed by the National Testing Agency, 1,16,110 candidates appeared in NEET(UG) 2024 from West Bengal," Nadda said.