MUMBAI, FEB 5: With an eye on his votebank, State Health Minister Daulatrao Aher has succeeded in getting clearance from the Cabinet to set up a unique Medical university in his hometown Nashik. The ambitious project will be put into action from the coming academic year starting June 1998.The cabinet meeting held on Tuesday has approved the draft bill to this effect and the final bill will be passed in the budget session of the Legislative Asembly. The formation of this university, to which all medical colleges in the state will be affiliated, will give Aher direct control over the medical education being imparted throughout the state.
Besides, the government has projected Nashik as being centrally located in the State for easy access by colleges in any part of Maharashtra. It is also being claimed that the varsity can have better control over functioning of colleges from Nashik.
The bill, titled The Maharashtra Health Sciences University Bill, has a total of 97 clauses in it to extensively deal withall branches of medical education and post-graduation, various appointments to this unversity, powers conferred upon the office bearers of the university etc. Drafting of the bill and development of the concept is done by the Department of Medical Education and Medicines of the State Government.
The aim behind this university is to set up an institute solely devoted to development in medical education and to have a system which is fully equipped to keep the State at par with medical sciences in the developed countries.
The government has located land to set up the university in Nashik. Till the new building is constructed, the university will operate in a temporary accommodation. The high-tech building itself is going to cost a whopping Rs 10 crore to the State Government. Sophisticated equipment, up-to-date libraries and facilities for post-graduation, will have their own cost added to the project.
The most interesting feature of the university will be its computerised functioning and its reliance onmodern electronic media like the internet. The fact that latest information and developments in the field of medicine all over the world is available on the net without any delay, the varsity will rely on it to keep updating its styles of imparting education. The changes in the sector of medical sciences will be immediately introduced to all the medical colleges in the State through a centralised computer system, which is specially being developed for the varsity.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
