Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Vidadala Rajini on Wednesday met Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and demanded relaxation in the two provisions of the National Medical Commission (NMC). An official statement said Mandaviya responded positively to Rajini’s request and assured him that appropriate measures would be taken.

Further, in the meeting, she informed that the Andhra Pradesh government is constructing 17 new medical colleges with an investment of Rs 8,480 crore. The construction of five medical colleges has already been completed and will be operational next year. The work of the remaining 12 colleges is going on at a fast pace, she said, and added due to the new rules, there will be no chance of sanctioning even a single medical college in the state. Rajini urged the Centre to take initiatives to ensure that there is no loss in the provision of modern medicine to Andhra Pradesh.

“The NMC has brought many new regulations. The new rules have been brought to allow only one hundred seats for every ten lakh population in each state,” Rajini said in her representation to the central government. The other NMC rule states that a hospital with a capacity of 605 beds should be provided for new medical colleges, she said and expressed concern over these two provisions.

Rajini said, “These two provisions would cause serious damage to the newly formed state of Andhra Pradesh. After the bifurcation of the state, Andhra Pradesh lost badly in terms of medical care services.”

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)