NIT-R rules out medical college proposal for now

Chairman of Board of Governors (BOG) of the National Institute of Technology-Rourkela (NIT-R) Dr Santrupt B Mishra on Thursday admitted that the institute’s announcement to set up a medical
NIT-R rules out medical college proposal for now

ROURKELA: Chairman of Board of Governors (BOG) of the National Institute of Technology-Rourkela (NIT-R) Dr Santrupt B Mishra on Thursday admitted that the institute’s announcement to set up a medical college and hospital (MCH) was ‘premature’ and was made hastily. Speaking to mediapersons on Thursday, Mishra said the NIT-R is keen to set up the MCH and negotiating on how to address challenges of faculty members, finance, infrastructure and mandatory regulations. Consultation with people having adequate experience in the field of MCH and medical science is being going on, he added.

Mishra said setting up a medical college of great magnitude requires huge capital investment and hoped that by the end of June 2019, they would have a clear idea on how to proceed further. The BOG has formed a task force to explore ways to augment finance of NIT-R, he added.Mishra further clarified that being a technical and engineering institute, NIT-R dos not have experience in medical science and education. It also remains to be checked if setting up an MCH is permissible under the NIT Act, he said.

NIT-R Registrar S K Upadhyay had recently claimed that as per guidelines, the NITs were set up for offering only engineering degrees and the institute did not have investment resources for medical college.
Sources said after dropping the proposal to set up an MCH, the NIT-R has submitted another proposal to establish a School of Research in Medical Sciences and Technology (SRMST) estimated at `400-`450 crore. The proposal was made  following a meeting of the Board of Governors (BOG) of NIT-R on June 22. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, while accepting an independent proposal of the institute in April, had sanctioned the MCH.

Asked about allegations of financial and administrative irregularities gripping the NIT-R administration, he said, “We are very cautious about the image of the institute. If any specific complaint is received, action would be taken.” Mishra, who is on a two-day visit to NIT-R, interacted with faculty members, students, alumni and officers on Wednesday. On Thursday, he had meetings with members of Foundation for Technology and Business Incubation and Start-up units, Deans, Senate Members, Director and the Registrar. Among others, NIT-R Director Prof Animesh Biswas and Registrar SK Upadhyay were present. 

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