The Centre on Thursday instructed 14 states to accelerate the utilisation of federal funding in order to expedite the completion of new medical colleges authorised under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme so that UG courses could be commenced early.
The Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Thursday emphasised on the worryingly poor pace of the projects while reviewing their progress with the health secretaries and directors (medical education) of the states and UTs via video conference.
As many as 157 new medical colleges have been approved under the programme, so far in three phases, since 2014.
The states and union territories that participated in the review meeting included the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, J&K, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, and Punjab.
The review meet
The Union health secretary asked the states to speed up the physical completion of projects to enable the start of UG courses by the 2023–2024 academic session. It was made clear that all projects must be finished on time because the scheme would end on March 31, 2024.
For the 2022–2023 fiscal year, it was disclosed Rs 7,500 crore had been set aside for the Human Resources for Health (HRH) and Medical Education (ME) schemes. However, the Centre is unable to transfer more money to the states due to the sluggish rate of expenditure by the states and union territories and the absence of a request for the release of funds from the states.
The states have also been told that utilisation certifications must be provided immediately without delay in order for the Center to disburse the remaining funds.
Additionally, state administrations were suggested to promptly upgrade the Union Ministry site for tracking the material and financial development and to routinely assess the progress.
In contrast to many of the conventional technologies employed in many of the projects, the Union Health Secretary stressed the advantages of emerging technologies that allow for speedy completion and also high levels of energy saving.
For projects that have not yet begun, the states were recommended to look into and deploy locally-applicable green technology solutions as well as steel composite constructions.
It was also observed that some of the projects appeared to be on hold as the construction firms lacked the necessary expertise in creating hospitals and offering the specific services that go along with them.
The states were told to make sure that the chosen contractors had the necessary training and experience, and subcontracting, if any, complied with with these standards.
The Centrally Sponsored Scheme
In January 2014, the Indian government had announced the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for "Establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals,” with fund sharing between the Centre and states/UTs in the 90:10 ratio for northeastern/special category states, and 60:40 for other states.
The three phases of implementation for this centrally sponsored scheme are:
— Phase-I (2014) (58 medical Colleges covering 13 aspirational districts)
— Phase-II (2018) (24 medical colleges in 6 Aspirational districts); and
— Phase-III (2019) (75 Medical Colleges within 20 Aspirational districts)
Phase – I of the CSS for the establishment of medical colleges was given approval in January 2014, with a target completion date of the 2019–20 fiscal year. Each medical college was expected to cost Rs. 189 crore to complete during this phase, with the Centre having released its share of the funds (Rs. 7,541.10) to the states/UTs. Eight of the 58 medical colleges are not yet up and running.
Phase – II was authorised in February 2018 and will continue till 2021–2022. This phase called for building at least one medical college in each of the three parliamentary districts for Rs 250 crore. The Central share of Rs 3,675 crore have been released to the states/UTs. Only eight medical colleges have become functional till date.
The CSS scheme's Phase III was authorised in August 2019 with a with a completion timeline of 2023-24. Each medical college in this phase is expected to cost Rs 325 crore. From the entire Central share of Rs. 15499.74 crore, Rs. 9,324.11 crore have so far been distributed to the states/UTs, and 14 medical colleges are presently operational.
