Delhi: Rs 470cr approved for medical college at RML Hospital

NEW DELHI: Four years after it was inaugurated, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences, the medical college attached to Centre-run Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, is finally set to be constructed, as funds of Rs 470 crore have been approved and the master plan has been prepared. The project is likely to take two years to complete.

A three-acre plot, where the psychiatry department is currently functioning, will have a new 12-floor building, housing a large auditorium with a capacity of 1,500 people. Besides, six lecture theatres, each with a capacity of 250 people, a swimming pool and a parking lot for 1,000 vehicles will be constructed. The new building will have domes and arches and a combination of Victorian and modern architecture, according to officials.

Director and medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Ajay Shukla, told TOI that most of the formalities have been completed and construction work will start soon after the final approval from the Union ministry of health is received.

"The new building will be connected with the subway to avoid traffic congestion," he said, adding that the existing psychiatry department will temporarily shift to the old doctors' hostel.

Currently, there are about 500 MBBS students in the medical college. The building will have pre-clinical departments, such as anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, microbiology, forensic medicine, pharmacology and their laboratories, along with the rooms of their faculties and heads.

The medical college was inaugurated in 2019 by Dr Harsh Vardhan, the then Union minister of health and family welfare, on the first death anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The project was earlier expected to be completed in 2022. Administrative officials said it got delayed due to the pandemic.

Besides, several approvals were needed at various levels to commence the project. Since the medical college is to be constructed in Lutyens' zone, an approval was needed for change in land use, which came three months ago. Then a master plan was prepared and approved. The final nod is pending with the Union health ministry.

Officials said the hospital's superspecialty block with 666 beds will likely be ready by April next year. After its completion, the radiotherapy, medical and surgical oncology departments will come up, with facilities like linear accelerator and PET CT.