“Villupuram medical college will function from next academic year”

CHENNAI: The Villupuram Medical College will function from the next academic year, subject to mandatory clearances, Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy said on Monday.

Of the three medical colleges announced in the last budget – Villupuram, Dharmapuri and Tiruvarur – work was progressing fast on the Villupuram college after “impediments in its path” were removed, Mr. Ponmudy said.

The government passed an order in August 2006 for setting up the medical college. Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin laid the foundation stone in May 2007. A litigation held up construction. In December, bhoomi puja was performed for construction of the Rs.99-crore government medical college and hospital at Mundiambakkam near Villupuram.

As regards two other colleges, the Minister said he was satisfied with the progress of work. The Villupuram college would be a four-storied structure spread over 25,694 sq.m and would have 500 beds. The outpatient ward with a blood bank would have an additional 4,951 sq.m space. In the next phase, classrooms, an administrative building, an auditorium, hostels and quarters for doctors and nurses would be built.

Mr. Ponmudy told The Hindu that the motive behind setting up these medical colleges was to give a fillip to educational facilities there. “Of the six constituent colleges of Anna University, three are in Villupuram district – Panruti, Tindivanam and Villupuram. This is again a measure to take affordable professional education to the door step of the rural student.”

Mr. Ponmudy said preliminary work on the Sivaganga and Perambalur medical colleges had also begun. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi would lay the foundation for the Sivaganga Medical College on February 8.