GMC Anantnag to operate from main campus from Monday

Anantnag: After missing several deadlines, the much-awaited Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag would operate from the main campus from Monday.

“The college authorities will take over five blocks of the college in a phased manner,” an official said.

He said that these include the Administration Block, Library Block, Principal’s Residence, Boys’ Hostel, and Girls’ Hostel.

The college which got the approval of 100 MBBS seats in 2019 from the Medical Council of India (MCI) now National Medical Commission has three batches – 1st Prof, 2nd Prof, and 3rd Prof.

However, it is still operating from a makeshift accommodation in GMC Hospital at Janglat Mandi, an erstwhile district hospital building.

The foundation stone of the campus, located on the outskirts of town at Dialgam, was laid in May 2016 by the then Union Health Minister J P Nadda and the then chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.

The government had initially set December 2020 as the final deadline of the Rs 133 crore project.

The project was entrusted to Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporation (JKPCC) Limited.

Greater Kashmir had carried a series of stories on the slow progress of work on GMC Anantnag.

“We have completed work on the five blocks and will be handing those over to the GMC Anantnag authorities,” JKPCC General Manager Showkat Ahmad said.

Principal GMC Anantnag, Dr Tariq Qureshi told Greater Kashmir that they would take over the blocks in a phased manner.

“We will start shifting the college from Monday. Initially, we will take over the administrative block consisting of the administrative section, planning section, and community center. Following that we will also shift the library and hostel blocks,” he said.

Dr Qureshi said that the classes of the 3rd Prof (6th and 7th semester) would be held in the main campus once their ongoing exams are over.

“The new batch will also operate for classwork from the main campus,” he said.

However, an official said that the work on five other blocks – Lecture Hall, Departmental Block I, Departmental Block II, Professors’ Quarters, and Associate Professors’ Quarters was yet to be accomplished.

“The interior work of these blocks is still incomplete and might take five to six more months,” he said.

An official said that the landscaping, drainage work, STP, approach roads, and walls would need a separate project.

“The Health and Medical Education Department has asked the JKPCC to prepare an estimate for those works,” he said.