A close look at the Yavatmal Government Medical College
(YGMC) reveals that the monumental buildings alone cannot fulfil the
responsibility of a government-run medical college. The college is falling far short of its aim of providing prompt medical service to thousands of poor patients of the tribal-dominated heartland of Vidarbha.
Over 1,500 patients from Yavatmal, Amravati, Washim, Nanded, Wardha and Chandrapur districts of western Vidarbha trudge to this hospital daily for medical treatment. However, their expectations are usually shattered due to the unhealthy surroundings and the lack of manpower and facilities.
The established norms of the Nursing Council of India actually envisage 458 staff nurses at YGMC. However, there are only 205 sanctioned posts of staff nurses, of which 19 are vacant. At any time, 186 nurses are on duty making it a tight duty schedule for the staff on duty. The overburdened nurses have been agitating for many years but to no avail.
The condition of Class IV ward boys and attendants is not different as a number of posts are vacant. As for medical officers, there are 46 sanctioned posts but only 23 are on the rolls with the rest posts lying vacant.
Security arrangements at the medical college too are lacking, with regular vandalism and attacks on doctors by relatives of the patients on petty grounds. The security is entrusted to just 10 men whereas the actual requirement is of 53 guards.
Load-shedding is another regular feature of the college, with the proposal for a separate 32 KV substation still gathering dust, despite the college having earmarked an acre of land for it. More surprisingly, the power supplied to the college is treated as commercial use', and huge dues of Rs 41 lakh have built up over time. MSEDCL may well snap the power supply to the college at any time.
The doctors at the college too are not a happy lot. The state government had enhanced the salaries of resident doctor from Rs 7,500 to Rs 15,000 per month, but arrears to the tune of Rs 36 lakh are still unpaid.
With this backdrop, the principal secretary of health education Bhushan Gagrani held a review meeting at the college on Thursday, where he gave patient hearing to the dean, HODs, professors, lecturers, nursing staff and others.
Bhushan Gagrani accepted all the demands put before him, including rectifying the administrative lacunae in the college. He promised sanction of four new PG courses, installation of CCTV to beef up security and emergency services, appointment of 30 new staff nurses and 13 temporary nurses to help nurses on duty, sanction of Rs 1 crore for construction of compound walls, filling up 16 posts of associate professors, purchasing of new CT scan machine costing Rs 5 crore to replace the 10-year-old machine in use now and a score of other assurances to update Yavatmal GMC.
Talking to the media, Gagrani admitted there has been increase in staff even after the district hospital was converted into a full-fledged medical college. He said, "MPSC has not recruited any doctors in the last five years," and added that he has instructed the dean to submit the requirement of staffers for government sanction immediately.
In the winter session of the State Assembly at Nagpur last year, health minister Rajesh Tope had announced on the floor of the House that he would personally visit Yavatmal GMC and take stock of the situation. He had also promised to take necessary steps to resolve all problems faced by the college but to no avail. He had also assured the House that Yavatmal GMC would be upgraded to a Super Speciality Hospital.
Now, Bhushan Gagrani has come and assured everyone that all problems would be solved on war footing. What emerges from this official visit and promises in the days to come is anybody's guess.
History & development
The Shri Vasantrao Naik Govt Medical College at Yavatmal was established in 1989, thanks to the untiring efforts of, former CM of Maharashtra late Sudhakarrao Naik and the then health minister late Jawaharlal Darda. A sprawling green landscape admeasuring 125 acres, originally belonging to the Akola-based Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Agriculture University
, was taken over and allotted to the GMC. The architecturally fabulous and monumental medical college came into existence with 50 students, and the capacity was enhanced to 100 a few years ago after hectic efforts and mass agitations. Four post graduate diploma courses were added to it later.