16 new medical colleges to be set up in Punjab: Bhagwant Mann

Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said his government will build 16 medical colleges in five years and the aspirants will no longer have to go to countries like Ukraine for medical education.

This will raise the total number of medical colleges in the state to 25, transforming Punjab into a hub of medical education, he said chairing a meeting to review the status of the upcoming five medical colleges at Sangrur, SAS Nagar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Malerkotla.

"The state has a glorious legacy of producing world-class doctors," the chief minister said.

Lamenting that none of the successive governments in the state focused on establishing quality medical colleges in Punjab, Mann said as a result of this, a large number of students have to go abroad for medical education.

The chief minister said the students aspiring to pursue medical education will no longer have to go to countries like Ukraine. On the contrary, these students will be provided quality medical education in these medical colleges, the chief minister said.