The Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has secured the Medical Council of India (MCI) approval to run third batch of the MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) course in the current session.
For filling the seats, the institute will participate in second counselling at the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, in the last week of this month. The PIMS has 150 MBBS seats, as only the 2011-12 and 2012-13 batches are running. The third batch will have the government, management, and NRI (non-resident Indian) seat quota at 50%, 35%, and 15%, respectively, as in the other private medical colleges.
“On Saturday morning, we received information that the MCI has given us green signal to start inducting the third batch,” said PIMS resident director Dr Kanwaljit Singh.
Reminded of the image crisis of the institute, the resident director said it had moved on from its past problems. He hoped that all seats in the NRI-quota would be filled this time, unlike only three to four in the previous batches. The institute will open urology, gastroenterology, nephrology, medical oncology, and some other departments.
The approval ended more than two months of waiting for clearance from the MCI. On March 24, a three-member team from the council had scanned documents and inspected wards and operating theaters at the institute and collected feedback from the patients about the services.
{{/usCountry}}The approval ended more than two months of waiting for clearance from the MCI. On March 24, a three-member team from the council had scanned documents and inspected wards and operating theaters at the institute and collected feedback from the patients about the services.
{{/usCountry}}In June last year, the MCI had held back the approval, citing deficiencies; and the premier health institute of the state had incurred a loss of about `5 crore after the freeze on intake. It moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, which dismissed its writ petition on September 30, 2013.
A society led by water supply and sanitation minister Surjit Singh Rakhra runs the PIMS on a 99-year lease he had secured during the previous regime of the Akali government in the state.
Last year, the institute with 400 beds failed to pay its electricity bills and then had to switch to generators after losing power supply.