Patna, April 28: Two health hubs in the city — Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) and Holy Family Hospital at Kurji — have been given permission by the Nursing Council of India (NCI) to start BSc courses in nursing from the next academic session.

Sources said 120 students would be trained in these courses. Amarjeet Sinha, principal secretary, health and family welfare department, said the NCI had sent a letter to the department in this regard.

“It is a major achievement for the state,” Sinha said.

Dr Arun Kumar, director, IGIMS, said: “We have the infrastructure and resources to start the course this year. A detailed plan for a separate nursing school on the institution premises has been sent to the state government for approval. The project will cost around Rs 40 crore and will have facilities like the college, a hostel and a playground.”

He added that an entrance test would be conducted for admission to the 100 seats.

Sister Juliana, an administrator of Holy Family Hospital, said: “The health department is yet to tell us about the letter of permission. An NCI team recently visited our centre, after which we applied for permission to start a BSc course in nursing. We will have 20 seats.”

At present, no institution in the state has a permission to run a degree-level nursing course.

Arun said: “IGIMS has been chosen as the nodal centre for nursing by the NCI. This means teams from our institution will conduct on-the-spot inspection of the quality of teaching in the nursing schools.”