Mangaluru : Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday, announced establishing a new medical college in Puttur.

When it comes up it will be the first government medical college in the coastal belt. Currently Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts together have eight private medical colleges. Of them, seven are in Dakshina Kannada alone.

Presenting the State Budget 2025, Mr. Siddaramaiah said action would be taken to upgrade the present 100-bed taluk government hospital in the town towards establishing the medical college. However, no funds allocation was made either for the college or the hospital.

Puttur MLA Ashok Kumar Rai, who was instrumental in convincing the Chief Minister about the need of a government medical college in the region, thanked Mr. Siddaramaiah at the Vidhana Soudha after the Budget presentation. He also thanked Health and Family Welfare and district in charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on the occasion.

Mr. Rai said a government medical college along with a hospital had been the demand from the region for a very long time. People from Sullia, Kadaba, Puttur and Belthangady taluks were depending upon Mangaluru for critical healthcare needs. With the government promising to establish a government medical college in Puttur, healthcare facilities in the region are bound to improve, he said.

Responding to the Budget proposal, Dakshina Kannada Sarakari Aspatre Ulisi Horata Samithi president Muneer Katipalla said the government has responded positively to the 15 years’ old demand for a government medical college in the district. While the district had become a hub of private medical education and hospitals, people wanted a government medical college, that too, in Puttur region, he said thanking the government.

Land in Bannur
Stating that the land earmarked for a government medical college was available near Bannur, Mr. Katipalla hoped that the Budget announcement would become a reality very soon. The government should not go for public-private partnership (PPP) method to establish the college and instead set up its own facility.

Recalling strong protests when the government intended to handover the land earmarked for the medical college for fish processing park earlier, Mr. Katipalla noted that the samithi had held protests in front of offices of MLAs in the district four years ago. Every participant in the struggle feels delighted now, he added.

Community Health Centre
Besides announcing medical college at Puttur, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the primary health centre in Kaup in Udupi district would be upgraded as a community health centre in line with a few other newly formed taluks. Proposing renovation of several taluk and district hospitals at a cost of Rs.650 crore, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the District Government Wenlock Hospital, Mangaluru, was one of them.