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Gagan K Teja
Tribune News Service
Patiala, November 29
Considered among the best medical colleges of the region, Government Medical College, Patiala, one of the oldest medical institutions in the region, completed 60 years of its inception today.
The foundation stone of the college was laid on December 21, 1953 by Dr Rajendra Prasad, the then President of India, and the opening ceremony of the regular college building was performed by Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur, the then Union Health Minister on February 4, 1955.
In order to celebrate the diamond jubilee of its inception, a grand celebration was held at the college under the theme, “Yesterday once More”. College alumni, including faculty members, doctors from abroad and medical students, remained engaged throughout the day in different sports events, fun games carnival, visiting research and art exhibitions. A colourful cultural programme, including bhangra and giddha, by old students in the jam-packed college auditorium was the highlight of the day.
The celebrations began with a welcome address by college principal Dr KD Singh narrating glorious history of the college.
In his keynote address, a renowned surgeon and former DRME-Punjab, Dr Ajmer Singh, stressed to call for an in-depth introspection to assess the past, the present and the future of the institution blessed with personalities of great eminence, stature, administrative skill and dedication in the earlier decades that made the institution a great school of teaching and training.
Oration lectures in the memory of Dr SS Jolly, Dr KC Saronwala and Dr SP Thapar were delivered by eminent speakers of international repute such as Dr KK Talwar, now Adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister, Dr Jai Dev Wig from PGI-Chandigarh and Dr Janak Raj Sachdeva from Patiala.
Meanwhile, a souvenir titled “Solitaire” depicting old memories and present activities going in various departments of the college along with annual academic report of the college were released by the chief guest Husan Lal (IAS) Secretary Medical Education & Research, Punjab, along with Dr Baldev Singh Aulakh and other luminaries on the dais.
The past
Despite a small reservation of seats for PEPSU students in the King George Medical College, Lahore, in early 1940s, the PEPSU state was facing an acute shortage of qualified medical doctors. The erstwhile princely state of Patiala was part of PEPSU in 1950s under the patronage of the then Raj Pramukh, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh with PS Rau, ICS as Chief Administrator and Adviser to Raj Pramukh. Dr Amarjit Singh, who was personal physician to both Raj Pramukh and Rau, persuaded them to start a medical college at Patiala and a positive decision taken and implemented in a record week’s time. With full administrative support, the approval for the new medical college was obtained and the first batch of 50 medical students was admitted in September/October 1953 after the UGC and Punjab University clearances and inspection.
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