In a significant move to bolster medical education and healthcare infrastructure in the city’s eastern suburbs, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed the establishment of a new medical college in Govandi. If approved, it would become Mumbai’s seventh medical college and the first in the eastern suburbs.
The civic body has issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) to develop a 100-seat medical college attached to the existing Shatabdi Hospital in Govandi. The project is planned under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. Confirming the development, Dr Chandrakant Pawar, Chief Medical Superintendent of BMC’s peripheral hospitals, stated that the corporation is currently awaiting responses to the EOI.
Presently, Mumbai is home to two state-run medical colleges—Grant Medical College and St. George Medical College—and four civic-run institutions linked to KEM, Sion, Nair, and Cooper Hospitals. Additionally, the state government has established new medical colleges in Ambernath and Raigad, while Thane Municipal Corporation also runs a college.
The proposed Govandi college aims to expand access to medical education and address the healthcare needs of underserved areas. This initiative aligns with the BMC’s broader goals of strengthening public health infrastructure across the city.
In a separate development, five employees from the BMC’s education department, hired under the disability quota, have been declared ineligible following a revised medical assessment. The evaluation revealed their disability levels were below the required 40 per cent threshold.
This reassessment is part of a larger, state-wide review prompted by concerns over misuse of disability reservations. Out of 135 employees recruited under the quota, 34 were re-evaluated, and five were found to not meet the criteria. Further action is expected pending detailed review of individual cases.
Source: The Free Press Journal
