Health Minister Dr. Lakshma Reddy said that there was an increase of 700 seats in MBBS after the formation of Telangana State. Replying to a question raised by MLA Chintala Prabhakar during Question Hour in Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, the minister said five new medical (MBBS) colleges were set up after the formation of Telangana. While Government Medical College (Mahabubnagar); RVM Institute of Medical Sciences (Medak); Mahavir Institute of Medical Sciences (Vikarabad) and Maheswara Medical College & Hospital (Medak) have 150 MBBS seats each, ESI Medical College at Sanathnagar has 100 seats. Similarly, he said as many as 221 PG seats have increased in the State since June 2014. The Health Minister also said that the State Government has initiated the scheme called MERIT (Medical Education Research in Telangana ) to foster the research in medical colleges. “The government, for the first time in the country, took the steps to promote and encourage research activity in the Government Medical Colleges for which Rs. 12 crore has been allocated in the B.E. 2016-17 as Research Fund of which Rs. 6 crores have been released so far,” he said. Lakshma Reddy said that the State Government has decided to set up at least one medical college in each district and the first college would be set up in Siddipet. He said that directions have been issued to fill vacant posts in area hospitals. (INN)

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