Rajasthan's Minister of Medical Health & Services Parsadi Lal Meena, on January 11, asked officials to ensure that the 16 under-construction medical colleges in the state are ready within the stipulated time period. He demanded that colleges be completed by 2023 so that there is no shortage of doctors in the state and directed the respective principals to monitor the work regularly.

Meena, in a review meeting of the department, said that seven colleges were approved in the first phase, one in the second phase. Of them, construction of medical colleges in Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Churu, Pali and Dungarpur has started in 2018, while those in Barmer and Sikar started in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Once the construction of all approved colleges is completed, 30 out of the total 33 districts in the state will have a medical college.

The opening of medical colleges in the remaining three districts of Jalore, Rajsamand and Pratapgarh is also proposed at the Central level, according to a release. Meena also said in the meeting that hospitals affiliated with medical colleges should leave no stone unturned in providing better healthcare to the common man during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.