Bhubaneswar, Oct 8 (PTI) Odisha on Friday urged the Centre to take steps for early start to the medical college and hospital built by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) at Talcher for strengthening the health care service in the area, which is a hub of coal mining activity.

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Odisha Health and Family Welfare Minister N K Das wrote to his central government counterpart Mansukh Mandaviya.

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“It is requested that the Union Government may take suitable steps for early operationlisation of this Medical College and Hospital. This facility will help in further strengthening the health care service in the region and enhance the availability of doctors in Odisha.”

As part of its CSR commitment for the district, MCL, a CIL subsidiary, had signed an MoU with the state government in 2014 to establish a 500 beded and 100-seated medical college and hospital at Talcher. The state government has provided 20 acres free of cost for the purpose, the minister said.

The initial commitment of MCL was to operationalise the medical college in 2016-17 and the construction of the campus was completed in 2019-20. However, since the last two years the infrastructure has not been utilised for starting the medical college and hospital, Das said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)