A new private medical college is all set to start operation in Bishrampur, about 45km from Daltonganj in Jharkhand. It will accommodate a hundred aspirant doctors.

Ramchandra Chandravanshi, BJP MLA from Bishrampur in Palamau district and state’s former health minister, established the new private medical college that got nod from the National Medical Council (NMC) to admit 100 students for the current academic session 2021-22.

“I always dreamed of opening this medical college in memory of my mother and am happy that it came true,” he said about Laxmi Chandravanshi Medical College and Hospital (LCMCH).

Though LCMCH sought permission for admitting 150 students, NMC’s medical assessment and rating board issued “letter of intent for 100 MBBS seats” on November 11, adding the letter of permission would follow subject to fulfilment of certain criteria by the applicants in respect of infrastructure, faculty and bank guarantee within a week.

“I understand 15 per cent of the seats are to be kept reserved for the candidates qualified under the quota of the Union government,” Chandravanshi said when asked how many seats would be kept reserved for the NEET qualified candidates from the state, adding they would decide on the rest 85 seats “in consultation with the state government”.

The state had three old government medical colleges in Ranchi, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur offering 250 seats and three new ones were opened in Dumka, Hazaribagh and Daltonganj in 2019 with each of those offering 100 MBBS seats. However, NMC had stopped admission process in the two new government medical colleges in Daltonganj and Hazaribagh last year, citing lack of infrastructure and faculty.

Meanwhile, a private medical college — Manipal Tata Medical College — was opened in Jamshedpur last year that offered 150 seats.

“At this stage, it’s good that the new medical college will help accommodate 100 more students,” a professor in a medical college, who did not wish to be identified, said, adding the new college must also retain the faculty for running it smoothly which is not very easy at a remote location like Bishrampur.