Lucknow: Viability gap fund scheme to help set up medical colleges

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government is looking at the possibility of using the viability gap funding scheme to build medical colleges in underserved districts of the state.

The central scheme, which was re-invented in 2020, provides financial support for mainstreaming and facilitating private participation in social infrastructure such as health, education, waste water treatment, water supply, solid waste management. The scheme aims to make creation of new hospitals, schools easier.

In a presentation before chief minister Yogi Adityanath, medical education and finance minister Suresh Khanna, principal secretary, medical education, Alok Kumar II spoke at length on available options to draw and encourage private players in setting up medical colleges.

Among other models, Kumar spoke about the possibility of using viability gap funding to build medical colleges in 16 underserved districts that do not have private or government medical colleges. Kumar also presented the revised UP Private Sector Investment Policy for Health Care.

The Yogi government has envisioned one medical college in every district. The government claims to have given more than 30 medical colleges to UP. As per data, in 2018-19, seven medical college projects were operationalized while nine others were started. Work is underway to start 14 medical colleges from 2022 academic session.