Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

MCH expansion on the cards

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy said here on Monday that the government proposed to acquire 12 hectares of land around the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College campus for the expansion of the college’s hospital and other facilities.

This acquisition would also mean the release of a stretch of around 28 hectares of land in the same area from a freeze on transactions imposed way back in 1976, she said at a press conference after a meeting of top officials held here to chart out the broad outline of the medical college expansion programme.

Law Minister M. Vijayakumar, in whose constituency the medical college area falls, also attended the meeting.

The Minister told mediapersons that a large number of families residing in the area were facing difficulties because of the freeze on sale of their land holdings for such a long time.

Residents of the area could not even get clearance for constructing/renovating their buildings from the authorities concerned owing to the freeze imposed 32 years ago for the expansion of the medical college.

About 40 hectares of land was involved in the freeze. Twelve hectares of this area would suffice.

Special secretary to the Health Minister Usha Titus would act as the convener of a committee that would work out the details of the medical college expansion programme.

The Town Planning Department and Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority too would be involved in the exercise, Ms. Sreemathy said.

Mr. Vijayakumar said the expansion programme, including the proposed land acquisition, would be executed under the ‘fast track’ mode. The project would entail an investment of over Rs.120 crore, a sizeable portion of which the State would receive from the Union government.

Ms. Sreemathy said her department would prepare within 10 days the detailed estimate for upgrading the government hospital at Peroorkada in the city to the status of a district hospital. It would become a 350-bed hospital with all the speciality treatment facilities. A sum of Rs.1 crore allocated for the project in the current year’s State budget would be utilised immediately, the Minister added.

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