MCI team inspection at PIMS concludes; report in 10 days
The two-day visit by a three-member team of the Medical Council of India (MCI) to the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) concluded on Saturday while the institute management is awaiting the approval for running its third batch of MBBS course for 2014-15 session.
The two-day visit by a three-member team of the Medical Council of India (MCI) to the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) concluded on Saturday while the institute management is awaiting the approval for running its third batch of MBBS course for 2014-15 session.
The team on Saturday went through documents and records of the PIMS at its various offices to check whether the institute completed all formalities needed for starting MBBS classes for the current academic session.
On Friday, the team assessed all the departments, faculty, staff and equipment. They also inspected medical services at various wards, visited operation theaters of the institute.
They also talked to the patients and visitors and evaluated the services being provided at the institute.
In June last year, the MCI had denied approval to the PIMS to run MBBS courses after it noticed several deficiencies at the premier state health institute as a result of which the institute suffered losses of around Rs 4-5 crore.
The PIMS has 150 MBBS seats and only two batches of students are studying at the institute at present. The first batch was admitted in 2011-12 and second batch of students took admission in 2012-13.
No new students were admitted last year after the MCI denied approval for new admissions for 2013-14. An official said the team would submit its report within 10 days, which will decide the fate of the institute.
PIMS principal Dr Kulbir Kaur was unavailable for comments when Hindustan Times tried to contact her. After the permission for admission was refused last year, the PIMS had approached the Punjab and Haryana high court but failed to get any relief as the court dismissed its writ petition in September last year.
The PIMS is being run by a society headed by state rural development and panchayat minister Surjit Singh Rakhra on 99-year lease given during the first tenure of the SAD-BJP government.
The 400-bedded institute was marred by several controversies last year such failing to pay electricity bills following which the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) had disconnected electricity supply to it.
The institute was run on generator sets. The PIMS administration had not paid salaries to its paramedical staff and doctors for many months last year.
The paramedical staff, including radiographers, operation theatre assistants, computer operators, laboratory technicians and clerks, held a dharna and raised slogans against the PIMS management for its inability to solve the continued financial crunch.
