Historic Kurnool Medical College gears up to celebrate Diamond Jubilee
KURNOOL: Kurnool Medical College Principal G.S. Ram Prasad said that the diamond jubilee celebrations of college will start on Friday. As part of the celebrations, the KMC will hold a science exhibition on March 10, a free medical camp at the Super Speciality block, a maja-and-masthi programme for current students that will include dance competitions, singing and a medley of cultural bonanza to unwind and make the grand occasion memorable.
The professors and the faculty will get a chance to shake their legs and step in style with the mood swings of the medicos, the principal said. When the medical college was started in Kurnool soon after Andhra state was formed in 1953, infrastructure and fame arrived instantly. With it came the faculty and the facilities. That made a big difference, said Dr Ram Prasad.
Today, our old students (alumni) occupy important positions in the global healthcare sector.
Pioneering research in cutting edge technologies brought qualitative change to the lives of people. The efforts of our alumni have set records in the medical industry, he said. Dr Nori Dattatreyudu, a cancer specialist, Dr G. Nageshwar Reddy and Dr Jagannath are among the big names in the industry, he said. Asked about the generosity of the alumni in developing the college, Ram Prasad said they have made contributions but “much more needs to be done.”
A cardiologist settled at Atlanta in the US, Sreeni Gangasani, an alumnus of 1985 batch of KMC, recently donated a dozen stents, each costing about Rs 40,000 to be implanted in poor patients. Dr. Sreeni handed over the stents to KMC principal G.S. Ramgopal during a continuing medical education programme on cardiology held as part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the college. Recalling the last wish of his friend, who died of cancer to contribute Rs 50 lakh from his account for the social cause, the cardiologist also promised to donate Rs 25 lakh to develop infrastructure at the college and an equal amount to cardiology department in hospital.
Another alumnus of 1985 batch, Mahesh Mulumudi, settled at Seattle in the U.S., suggested a partnership between the alumni members in the US and the KMC for academic and financial support to the college. Kurnool Men's College Hostel needs to be thoroughly refurbished. A portion of the hostel is in a dilapidated stage. Recently the roof in of a room collapsed, said students and needed to be fixed on a war footing.
The hostel for female medicos also needs repairs with water supply and plumbing being recurring problems. The protection wall around the women's hostel needs to be reinforced while the library needs more online subscriptions for the students to be able to compete with the rest of the world. When the Andhra State was formed in October 1953, the government of Andhra decided to start a medical college in the Rayalaseema region of the state. In G.O. Ms. No. 1835, Health, dated November 29, 1955, the government of Andhra passed orders to establish a medical college, the third one in the state at Kurnool. The building was not ready for housing the college and the government decided to admit 50 students intended for Kurnool Medical College at Guntur in July 1956. When Andhra Pradesh was formed and the capital was shifted to Hyderabad from Kurnool, the erstwhile secretariat buildings were handed over to medical college. The college was opened on July 21, 1957 by TT Krishnamachari, the then finance minister, government of India. 50 students were admitted to the MBBS course.
