The Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to attach the Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) which was made operational on Monday to the NTR University of Health Sciences.
Though Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas had made an announcement to this effect in the State Assembly during the recent session, the NTRUHS is yet to receive official communication from the State Government. Government wants to develop the VIMS into a top-class super speciality facility on the lines of the AIIMS and NIMS (Hyderabad) and it can also use the funds of the NTRUHS for its development.
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Even as the NTRUHS waits for the official communication from the Government there is a possibility of starting post-graduate and super speciality courses at the VIMS once it is fully developed, thanks to the present guidelines of the Medical Council of India, NTRUHS Vice-Chancellor T. Raviraju said.
In a medical college, the PG courses can be started only after the first batch of final year students completed their study, but an institution like the VIMS is allowed to start PG and super speciality courses, he explained to The Hindu after the inauguration of the VIMS by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
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The State Government wants to attach the VIMS to the NTRUHS since the university can take care of the financial burden, thanks to the Rs.300 crore it has.
But, Dr. Raviraju feels that it was difficult to run an institution with university’s own finances and the State Government’s support was necessary.
The VIMS must also be able to generate its own revenue, like the NIMS in Hyderabad, he said.
The NIMS gets Rs.100 crore from the State Government but is generating Rs.120 crore additionally as cases are referred to it in good number, he explained.