New nursing colleges to provide quality, affordable nursing education: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

New Delhi [India], April 27 : In a significant move towards strengthening the nursing workforce in the country, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the establishment of 157 new nursing colleges on Wednesday, said an official release.
According to the release, the colleges will be established in co-location with the existing medical colleges established in 2014. The step will add approximately 15,700 nursing graduates every year.
"This will further ensure quality, affordable, and equitable nursing education in India, particularly in underserved districts and States/Union Territories. The total financial implication will be Rs1,570 crore," added the release.
The aim of the initiative is to address the geographical and rural-urban imbalances in the healthcare sector.
"The initiative aims to address the geographical and rural-urban imbalances in the healthcare sector, which have led to the skewed availability of nursing professionals and impacted healthcare services in underserved areas," said the release.
"The establishment of these nursing colleges will provide a significant boost to the availability of qualified human resources in healthcare. This is also being done as a part of the national mandate for Universal Health Care (UHC) and will help in the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Reforms in the regulatory structure for Nursing education to meet with the emerging requirements in the sector are also under consideration," added the release.
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) also collaborates with leading International and National agencies for skill development and placement of qualified nurses for overseas positions.
The release also mentioned the benefits of co-location of these nursing colleges and said that it will allow optimal utilization of the existing infrastructure.
"Co-location of these nursing colleges with existing medical colleges will allow optimal utilization of the existing infrastructure, skill labs, clinical facilities, and faculty. This initiative is expected to provide better clinical exposure to nursing students and will also result in better care and service provision for patients in medical colleges," said the release.
"Use of green technologies will also be explored in these Nursing colleges and will be adopted as per relevancy to ensure energy efficiency and reduction in carbon footprint," added the release.
The release also informed that the Government plans to complete the project within the next two years and has laid out detailed timelines for every stage of planning as well as execution of the project.
The Empowered Committee headed by the Union Health Secretary in the Centre and Principal Secretary, Health/Medical Education in the States will monitor the progress of the work. The State Government/UTs will intimate to MoHFW on a regular basis, the physical progress of the works being done for the establishment of new nursing colleges under the scheme, added the release.