It was a red-letter day for the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here as it received the final recognition from the Medical Council of India (MCI), clearing the decks for the medicos to appear for NEET-PG or practise medicine.
The recognition came in the wake of Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas opening the Rural Health Centre attached to the RIMS at Maddipadu village, one of the conditions for the Medical Council of India’s nod.
Waving the letter of recognition from the MCI, Director K. Valleswari said “now the successful students can practise or go for higher studies without any problem.” First batch of passed out students had missed admissions into the New Delhi-based prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences due to delay in getting the recognition.
It has been a touch and go affair for the RIMS which has faced many a teething problems before getting the Medical Council of India’s nod in the last five years after meeting the stringent norms set by the council. It was only after the fourth inspection, the RIMS had got recognition this time with the authorities reducing the medical faculty shortage from the earlier 10.4% to 5% and making available fully functional X-ray machines and equipping the library with more than 7,000 books as per the MCI guidelines.
The State government mulled seeking the MCI’s nod to increase the number of MBBS seats in the RIMS from 100 to 150 and also start P.G. courses soon, according to official sources.
The RIMS, the brainchild of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, to set up autonomous AIIMS like medical institutions in different parts of the State.
But it suffered many hiccups in developing them as premier teaching hospitals.
