The Himachal Pradesh Assembly unanimously passed the Himachal Pradesh Health Science University Bill, 2017 to regulate the state government, private medical colleges, nursing and pharmacy and other health institutions in the state.

Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur introduced the Bill in the House for discussion and stated that presently all health education are being provided by the government at private medical colleges and institutions under the overall of control of Himachal Pradesh University. He said there is no separate medical university to regulate such health and medical education in the state. Many other states such as Punjab, Haryana and Karnataka have their separated act to regulate the health and medical education and matter connected there with. In order to provide quality education and health care and to produced the best health care personnel it is considered to expedient in the larger public interest to establish a separate university and separate legislations on the analogy of separate state.

He proposed in the ill to attain the objective namely to provided single platform for the health educationists of the state to improve and standardized the health education in the process of teaching, learning and evaluation system. Mr Thakur said the bill would bring the uniformity in the field of health eduation and promote and carry out research in various discipline of health science. He said it would provide latest health care facilities and health education like Punjab, Haryana and Karnataka where the health education is being provided under the ambit and scope of health Education. The Minister added that the university would be set up at ESI Nehar choke in Mandi district as state government has built up infrastructure there. He said about 150 seats were allowed by the MCI at ESI medical colleges in which 75 per cent would be reserve for state and 25 per cent for other states. He said seven seats have been reserved for the students of local area.

He denied the demand to set up Medical university at IGMC stating that state government was converting the institutions to Super specialty but there is dearth of land at IGMC complex at Shimla. He said ten super specialty wards were being set up after acquiring the land at Chamyana on outskirts of Shimla and case has been sent to Dehradun to acquire more land to expend the IGMC campus there. The Minister said Himachal Pradesh University was currently regulating the fee structure of private and government medical colleges. If NRI seats left vacant it was being converted to general seat in the state after fixing Rs 5.50 lakh fee for per seat and Rs 9 lakh for students belonged to outside the state. He assured the member that government may consider to further reduce the fee structure if UGC, WHO and other financial institutions come forward to help the state. He said including two existing medical college two new state medical college would start functioning at Chamba and Nahan soon. More than 650 posts of doctors were lying vacant due to shortage trained staff .