Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital. Telegraph picture

Muzaffarpur, April 3: Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) will begin postgraduate classes in June this year after an inspection is carried out by the Medical Council of India (MCI), said health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey.

An MCI team is expected to make a fresh inspection at the SKMCH in May to assess the requirements of the college.

Choubey said there is a dearth of doctors and proper infrastructure at SKMCH and steps are being taken to address the crisis by end of May. He also said people who have illegally grabbed land of the medical college by tampering documents will be dealt with strictly.

The health minister reviewed the state of affairs at SKMCH with superintendent G.K. Thakur, principal D.K. Sinha and other administrative officials. Choubey directed the officials to evacuate landgrabbers and vendors from the college land.

Circle officer of Musahari block Dipendra Bhushan arrived at the college with reinforcements to carry out the anti-encroachment drive on Saturday.

MCI, at the behest of the Union health ministry, approved the increase in the number of seats in the postgraduate courses at the state medical colleges. While the MCI has given permission to admit students on 26 seats in the various postgraduate disciplines at SKMCH, the Nursing Council of India has also granted permission to start a bachelor course of nursing at the medical college.

The central government has also given SKMCH monetary assistance to run a trauma centre, neurology and heart centre. The central government had provided Rs 80 lakh to SKMCH last year to open a trauma centre. The construction of roads along NH-28, NH-57 and NH-77 pass through the district made the Centre realise the need of a trauma centre at SKMCH to treat victims to road accidents.

As the number of heart patients visiting the SKMCH has increased, the state government has planned to establish a cardiology ward.

The government has already approved the plan and has given the necessary permission to set up the ward. Apart from the cardiology ward, plans to start new wards in of neurology, modern isolation and anti-retroviral therapy centre at SKMCH are also in the pipeline and funds have been provided to the authorities concerned to speed up the construction work.

Moreover, the SKMCH has also forwarded a proposal to increase the number of beds and set up a mega ward. The ward, which would accommodate 550 beds, will help the hospital cater to the volume of patients who come to SKMCH from several districts of north Bihar.