The newly inaugurated auditorium at PMCH in Dhanbad on Tuesday. Picture by Gautam Dey

State health minister Rajendra Prasad Singh inaugurated three new facilities at Patliputra Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), including an eye bank and a double storey auditorium in a move to address concerns of the Medical Council of India (MCI) that slashed seats at Dhanbad’s lone state-run medical college due to infrastructure deficiencies.

Singh, who arrived in Dhanbad around noon and rushed to PMCH at 12.40pm, first inaugurated the state-of-the-art centrally air-conditioned auditorium with an area of 20,235 sq feet and a seating capacity of 500 people.

The new hall was built after MCI raised objections about the old auditorium with a seating capacity of only 150, saying it was too small for holding a conferences and seminars.

Later, the minister inaugurated a three-storey library and examination hall of 40,658 sq feet, built at a cost of Rs 3.5 crore. The ground floor of the library, with an area of 11,668 sq feet, houses a cafeteria, a kitchen and a parking lot, while the first floor, with an area of 9,700 sq feet, will house the library.

The second floor, with an area of 9,700 sq feet, will house a reading room with a seating capacity of 100, while the third floor houses two examination halls and a guest house.

“The new additions will help to meet the infrastructural deficiencies of the college,” the minister said, while addressing a gathering of the medical college staff, adding that a fund of Rs 9.56 crore had been sanctioned for developing a cath lab with diagnostic imaging facilities.

On the question of delayed teachers’ promotions, the minister promised to take immediate steps to ensure justice to mentors who have been in the same rank for more than 10 years.

PMCH principal P. K. Senger, who delivered the welcome address, said construction of a central casualty building of the hospital was in the final stages, while funds had also been provided for developing advanced centres for medicine and gynaecology in addition to the cath lab.

Later, the minister also inaugurated an eye bank in the ophthalmology department for which 338 donors and 27 recipients had already been registered. Equipment worth Rs 15 lakh had been bought for the eye bank, the second such facility in the state after Ranchi.

Among those present at the inaugurations were state president of Indian Medical Association and superintendent of PMCH Kumar Biswas, Dhanbad civil surgeon A.K. Sinha and state reproductive and child health officer R.S. Goswami.