The Jharkhand government has commenced groundwork to upgrade four sadar hospitals in the state into medical colleges under the public-private-partnership (PPP) model, aiming to strengthen healthcare infrastructure across the state.
Proposed Upgradation Details
The proposed upgradation will cover sadar hospitals in Khunti, Jamtara, Giridih, and Dhanbad districts, with the goal of expanding access to quality medical education and advanced treatment facilities in underserved regions. Once completed, the number of medical colleges in the state will increase from five to nine.
The Jharkhand Medical and Health Infrastructure Development and Procurement Corporation Ltd (JMHIDPCL) on Monday issued tender notices inviting private players to partner in the project as part of the upgradation process.
Cabinet Approval and Implementation
This move follows the state cabinet’s approval granted in April this year for converting these district-level hospitals into full-fledged medical colleges under PPP mode to boost health services in Jharkhand.
“As part of the initiative, the existing 100-bed district hospitals in Giridih, Dhanbad, and Jamtara will be upgraded to medical colleges. The 130-bed Khunti Sadar hospital will be upgraded to a 220-bed hospital. After upgrading into medical colleges, a total of 350 new seats for medical education will be created in the state, 100 each in Giridih, Dhanbad, and Jamtara, and 50 seats in Khunti,” said Shashi Prakash Jha, managing director of JMHIDPCL.
Operational Framework for Private Players
The selected private players after completion of the bidding process will be handed over the four medical colleges for a period of 60 years to operate the hospitals and colleges. “They have to run the hospitals and medical colleges as per the government rate and won’t be able to take exorbitant course fees from students or treatment costs from patients. They will also be bound to run government schemes at the hospitals. On average, Rs 400 crore will be required to upgrade each of the sadar hospitals,” Jha added.
Addressing Doctor Shortage
Jha emphasized that the move aims to increase the number of medical seats, address the shortage of doctors, and enable the people of Jharkhand to access better healthcare. The state currently has a total of 730 undergraduate seats for medical education in its five existing medical colleges in Dumka, Palamu, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, and Jamshedpur, as well as at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences.
Notably, the Centre approved an increase of 250 MBBS seats—100 in MGM Medical College and 150 in Shaheed Nirmal Mahto Medical College and Hospital—earlier this month.
