Balangir: A team of Central Council of Indian Medicine visited the Government Ayurvedic College here on Saturday to take stock of the existing infrastructure and other facilities in the college.
A source said the team during the visit expressed satisfaction and hinted at opening a new post-graduate course in the college.
The team gave a green signal to increase the number of seats in Bachelor of Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) from 40 to 60.
The team held discussion with the principal of the college, Surendra Kumar Patel, who accompanied the team during the visit. The council members laid emphasis on the infrastructure during the visit. They visited the hospital on the campus, the boys' and girls' hostels, the library, laboratory, panchakarma and the surgery department. The team spoke to the students and the staff members separately to gather first hand information about various problems.
The team members K.Ramaraju and Srinibas Gujeswal held discussion with the principal of the college to find ways to address the problem of teachers' vacancies in several departments in the college. They said that the college might get a new post-graduate course namely - Ayurveda Samhita and Sidhanta from the coming academic year. Last year, the first post-graduate course in the college, Roga Nidana, was started.
Prahallad Mishra, an alumnus of the college, said: "Some years back, the college faced an uncertain future when everybody thought that the college might be shut down. Somehow the college survived the crisis period and now it is functioning normally though there is still a lot to be done," he said.
Mishra said that the college still lacked in infrastructure and staffs crunch a worry for all.Principal of the college, Surendra Kumar Patel, said that the team expressed satisfaction over the existing infrastructure and other facilities in the college. "The team was satisfied with their visit to the college. It expressed to increase the number of seats for BAMS from 40 to 60. The team also hinted at opening of a new PG course in the college," said Patel.
