Thursday, May 23, 2002
Thursday, May 23, 2002 |
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Kerala
By Our Staff Reporter
In a statement issued here today, the student leaders said that the demonstration, to be taken out at 10 a.m., would highlight the poor condition of the medical college, which was inaugurated 18 months ago. They threatened to go on an indefinite strike if their demands are not met. Ever since its opening on November 24, 2000, the Cooperative Medical College has been in focus for the lack of infrastructure facilities that a medical college ought to have received. Listing their woes, the students demanded that construction of the college building be immediately resumed. Even though the construction of a pucca building for the college had begun at Kalammasery more than a year ago, it had failed to take wings, they pointed out. The students demanded that facilities for clinical studies be arranged on all working days. Clinical studies, which form the core of medical education, take place six days a week in other medical colleges while the Cooperative Medical College here has only two days of clinical studies. The students complained that the clinical experience they receive is as good as nothing as only one or two patients are now being provided to 32 students on an average. They also complained that the clinics are conducted in a corner of the District Hospital in the city. According to them, they are not even allowed to enter the wards, outpatient (OP) wing, operation theatres or labour rooms of the hospital. They also demanded that sufficient number of teachers be posted and better laboratory facilities installed. Although it has been four months since the second-year classes began, the paraclinical laboratory studies are yet to take off, they pointed out. They deplored the situation in which several of their teachers had to leave the college and join other medical colleges in the State. Most of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the college have been appointed on contract basis, they pointed out. And the Indian Medical Council (IMC) has been withholding the recognition of the college on the ground that it did not have enough teachers, they pointed out. Meanwhile, it has been learnt that the medical students of the Cooperative Medical College are likely to be allowed to use the facilities of the Aluva Government Hospital too for their clinical material. The college will continue its arrangement with the Ernakulam General Hospital and will be sending batches of students to both these hospitals. According to the Chief Executing Officer of the Cooperative Medical College, K. N. Raghavan, "there will be less disturbance in the hospital if we send smaller batches of students''. Since the hospital planned for the medical college is yet to take off, it is likely that the temporary arrangement will continue a little longer. In all, 42 students were admitted to the college in the second batch that had been pending since the entrance results were declared last year. The classes started on May 2. The temporary nature of the arrangements made by the Cooperative Medical College is likely to pose a problem in the near future. A permanent structure was supposed to be ready before the fifth year of the existence of the college but the contractors who had taken up the construction and the Cooperative Academy of Professional Education (CAPE) are embroiled in a legal battle in the High Court. The Medical Council of India in its fresh inspection later in the year for a third batch is likely to point out the flaw of temporary arrangements to the CAPE. In the original project report submitted by the CAPE, the first phase of the facilities of the college and hospital to come up at Kalamassery, were to be completed in 2001. In all its inspections, the MCI would refer to this original report and compare the facilities provided by the college now. There has been no work on the ground since June 2001 when the contractors stopped work because of non-payment of dues from the CAPE. The CAPE went to court in October saying that the contractors had not mobilised enough machinery and manpower required for the construction. The construction work was jinxed from the beginning itself when the UPRNN faced a labour stir as soon as work started in November 2000. A crisis in the availability of sand and finally the Government's financial crisis resulted in the work coming to a standstill. The lack of proper infrastructure facilities like teaching staff and proper classroom and laboratory arrangements, etc. were cited as the grounds on which recognition for the second batch was denied earlier. It was later provided recognition on the Government-level intervention but the number of seats was scaled down to 50 from 100. The original number of seats will be restored only when the college will pass the inspection for the third batch later in the year. The college authorities had to give up rented buildings and convert space provided in the Jawahar Lal Nehru International Stadium, a GCDA building, into temporary laboratories for the second year students. Classes are held at the Indira Gandhi Cooperative Hospital too where the college was set up initially on a temporary basis.
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