• Hostel for boys and girls inside PKTB Hospital
• Oxygen plants at K.R. Hospital, District Hospital
• 13-kilolitre capacity oxygen storage plant
• Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory

Mysore/Mysuru: A slew of development works are being undertaken at the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI)in city by the Central Government.

The Institute is in its centenary year and once all the development works are completed, MMC&RI will be second-to-none when it comes to providing healthcare and medical education to the poor and middle class population, said Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha.

The Central and State Governments have taken up the development of K.R. Hospital, Cheluvamba Hospital and PKTB Hospitals and a comprehensive roadmap has been prepared for the same. While the State Government has sanctioned Rs. 89 crore for the restoration and repairs of the structures along with bringing in advanced equipment, the Centre is focussed on other infrastructure.

A hostel is being built for both men and women pursuing studies at MMC&RI and the hostel is coming up in the premises of PKTB Hospital on KRS Road at an estimated cost of Rs. 127 crore. A new library is coming up in the college premises along with an examination hall. These are being constructed at an additional cost of Rs. 76.20 crore and even here, certain hi-tech equipment will be purchased, the MP stated in a press release.

A fund of Rs. 1.25 crore has been released to refurbish the burns ward of the K.R. Hospital and ward extension and two PSA oxygen generation plants have been set up inside the K.R. Hospital and the District Hospital on behalf of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and under the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) allocation, a 13-kilolitre capacity oxygen tank has been constructed.

The MP recalled that when COVID made an entry to Mysuru, it was the state-of-the-art Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) at the Department of Microbiology in MMC&RI that became the pioneering laboratory in Karnataka for the detection of the killer virus and its potential variants. This VRDL laboratory was set up with a Rs. 5 crore grant by the Centre in 2017, Simha noted.

With the funds provided both by the State and Centre, the MMC&RI will be developed into a healthcare hub. Apart from constructing new facilities, enough care is being taken to safeguard the heritage structure of the buildings built by the Wadiyars, he noted.