Union labour and Employment Minister Oscar Fernandes on Wednesday inaugurated Rs 1,000 crore, 500-bed of ESIC Multi-Specialty Hospital and Medical College Building at Ner Chowk. The building and the campus was completed in a record time of five years. The foundation stone of this sprawling building had also been jointly laid by Fernandes and the then Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal in February 2009.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Health Minister Thakur Kaul Singh and some Cabinet Ministers were also present at the function. Fernandes announced that the college would soon become operational and over 40 per cent of the total seats would be reserved for the students of Himachal Pradesh. "This multi-specialty medical institute would prove a boon for the hill State and go a long way in providing world class medical facilities," he claimed.
He said with the coming up of this institute the problem of the shortage of doctors would be permanently solved. Besides this employment and self-employment opportunities would be generated. Decrying the growing trend and tendency of referring patients to private hospitals, Fernandes said it entailed an expenditure to the state exchequer to the extent of Rs 900 crore, an amount equal to the cost of a new medical college. Virbhadra Singh claimed the State had made great strides in the sphere of expansion of health education. Medical Colleges were coming up in Chamba and Nahan. The IGMC and Medical College Tanda were being expanded and modernised.