The Government has approved opening of two more Government Medical Colleges in the State-one at Udhampur and another at Handwara, which will take total number of Government Medical Colleges in the State to 9. “Jammu and Kashmir Government has identified Udhampur and Handwara as fresh locations for opening of two new Medical Colleges in the State,” an official statement said. An official order issued by the Health and Medical Education Department today said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has asked the State Government to submit a proposal for establishment of two more New Medical Colleges in the State out of a total of 75 new Medical Colleges proposed to be opened in the country. “Accordingly the Health and Medical Education Department as per the guidelines of the Medical Council of India has identified District Hospital Udhampur and District Hospital Handwara for establishment of new Medical Colleges,” the order said. The Department has asked the Deputy Commissioners of Udhampur and Kupwara to identify suitable land measuring minimum 200 kanals within the radius of 10 kilometers from the existing District Hospitals of Udhampur and Handwara, which is the first and foremost requirement for establishment of new Medical College and submit the revenue papers through the Divisional Commissioners to the Revenue Department for formal transfer in favour of Health and Medical Education Department immediately. Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh, who happened to be the Lok Sabha member from Udhampur constituency and was instrumental in the approval of new Medical College for Udhampur, said with the decision, the demand of the people of Udhampur district for the Medical College has been met. “When two Medical Colleges were approved for Kathua and Doda in Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary constituency, Udhampur district was left out to accommodate other districts. Now the demand of the people of Udhampur has been met with,” Dr Jitendra Singh, who took up the issue of opening of the GMC in Udhampur with both Central and State Governments, said. The Union Minister said the people of Udhampur district would benefit from the Government decision as presently they had to travel to the Government Medical College Jammu for specialized treatment. “All efforts will be made to ensure that the Government Medical College Udhampur starts functioning as early as possible,” Dr Jitendra Singh said. Presently, the State has seven Government Medical Colleges including Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur, Rajouri, Srinagar, Anantnag and Baramulla. The opening of two more Medical Colleges will take the number to nine
