Founder Principal GMC Jammu Dr N S Pathania passes away

Jammu, May 23: Founder Principal Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu Dr Nasib Singh Pathania breathed his last on Friday.

According to GMC Jammu Principal, Dr Ashutosh Gupta, Dr Pathania belonged to a quaint township Rey in Himachal Pradesh.

“He was working in PBDS PHMS in Rohtak, Haryana as a Professor in General Medicine when he was chosen for being the founder Principal of the then newly created GMC Jammu,” Dr Gupta recalled, while paying glowing tributes to Dr Pathania.

“Dr Pathania was a very popular and excellent academician-administrator. He was a kind and compassionate mentor for his colleagues, juniors and students. His towering and impressive personality, his eloquence and excellent clinical acumen had made him an endearing medico to the common masses, government officials, bureaucrats alike. He shared a close bond with his colleagues,” Dr Gupta reminisced while remembering the qualities of head and heart of Dr Pathania.

He recalled that under Dr Pathania’s leadership, Medical Council of India (MCI) inspection visits were successfully conducted in GMC Jammu, which was functioning in makeshift shacks those days.

“Recruiting well trained teaching and paramedical staff; planning and developing the campus and getting sanctioned new building for the Medical College – all this was done when Dr Pathania was at the helm of affairs. He was later elevated as the Director General Health and Medical Services in 1983,” Dr Gupta said.

He said that in Dr Pathania’s demise, an era of a healer administrator-cum-teacher has come to an end.

“He not only taught his student patient care but also taught how to deal with varied circumstances, particularly critical moments during the process,” Dr Ashutosh Gupta said, while expressing his condolences and sharing grief with the bereaved family.