Bhubaneswar, Aug 5 (IANS) Odisha Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling met Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda in New Delhi on Tuesday and urged him to expedite the issuance of the Letter of Permission (LoP) for the admissions of 100 MBBS students each at the Pavitra Mohan Pradhan Medical College (PMPMC), Talcher and Government Medical College (GMC), Phulbani of the state for the academic session of 2025-26.

As per an official statement issued on Tuesday, the Mahaling also held discussions with the Union Health Minister on the measures to further strengthen the healthcare services in Odisha.

“The state health Minister has urged the Union Health minister for prompt intervention to grant LoP for admission of 100 MBBS students each at both colleges for the 2025–26 academic session,” informed the official statement.

According to information, both institutions have recently been established to cater to the growing demand in the medical education sector of Odisha.

The respective Deans and Principals of these two institutions had already submitted their applications for LoP on 18th January 2025 through the National Medical Commission (NMC) portal.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) teams had conducted physical inspections of the colleges on 23rd June 2025 for Pavitra Mohan Pradhan Medical College (PMPMC), Talcher, and on 28th May 2025 for Government Medical College (GMC), Phulbani.

The state government has provided the necessary budgetary grants to enhance facilities and ensure quality medical education at both institutions.

With the granting of the LoP, two more government medical colleges will be added to the state’s healthcare infrastructure, increasing the total number from 14 to 16 government medical colleges.

Consequently, the total number of MBBS seats in government institutions will increase to 1800.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Odisha Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Rural Development, Rabi Narayan Naik, MP from Cuttack Bhartruhari Mahtab, Bargarh MP Pradeep Purohit, and MP from Kandhamal constituency Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi were present during the meeting.

–IANS

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