Patiala, Aug. 9 -- Punjab is unlikely to see a new medical college before 2027, with the revamp of district hospitals hanging fire. The incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had promised to open 16 new government medical colleges in Punjab during its five-year tenure. The state government had decided to avail of the Centre's scheme with a 60:40 fund-sharing ratio to build medical colleges in Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur. The Centre, way back in 2014, had floated a centrally-sponsored scheme (CSS) for 'establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals,' with preference to underserved areas and aspirational districts. 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 other states. Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur medical colleges have been approved under this scheme. However, the work on these two approved government medical colleges yet to start, the state has decided not to apply to the national medical commission (NMC) for setting up any new medical college for the 2026-2027 academic session. Confirming the development, health minister, Dr Balbir Singh, said that the government's plan to award a tender to a private company to upgrade these district hospitals and construct new buildings for a medical college failed as tenders could not be materialised. "Now, we are working out to finalise a new system to construct medical colleges on our own, which will be much cheaper. I am hopeful that we will be able to start construction of new medical colleges this year," said Dr Balbir Singh, A senior official in the medical education department, who didn't wish to be named, said that tenders were floated for the proposed medical colleges in Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur. "However, the process could not materialise as the bidders failed to meet the technical requirements, particularly the necessary experience to execute projects worth Rs.500 crore. As such, we will not apply for a new medical college this year," he said. As per the norms, the state government has to apply a year before it aims to start admissions for MBBS. Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur were perhaps the easiest colleges to make functional as they only required upgrading the existing district hospitals and construction of college buildings. In contrast, the other proposed medical colleges at Malerkotla, Sangrur and Nawanshahr would first require substantial investments with the construction and operationalisation of 350-500 bed hospitals before applying for new medical colleges. Seeing no headway, the government is now mulling starting a college with just 50 MBBS seats attached to an upgraded district hospital. "I think we will be able to open 4-5 medical colleges before our tenure ends in 2027. If needed, we will try to start a new medical college with 50 MBBS seats, and then upgrade it," he said. The minister said: "For the Malerkotla medical college Punjab Waqf Board will purchase land. The land for Sangrur medical college has been almost finalised. For the Nawanshahr, the government is planning to develop it under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode."...