Kerala to take over state’s first private medical college

The Kerala government is finally acquiring the state’s first private medical college which has seen many political and legal fights over the past 25 years.The state cabinet yesterday approved a draft bill to take over the Academy of Medical Sciences and Kerala Co-operative Hospital Complex, which is neck-deep in debt despite taxing the students heavily.The college and hospital complex, known as the Pariyaram Medical College and Hospital, was built on government land in the northern Kannur district in the early 1900s when K Karunakaran was the chief minister and dissident Communist leader M V Raghavan the co-operation minister.It was also a scene of many violent protests. Later the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which is now in power, seized control of the complex.A WhatsApp message from the office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the cabinet had decided to recommend to Governor P Sathasivam to issue an ordinance facilitating the takeover.“This is for providing better healthcare facilities for the people of northern Kerala and fulfilling the need for a government medical college in the region,” it said.“The society that was running the hospital complex and the college had requested the government to take over as it was difficult for them to continue.”The CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government that succeeded the Karunakaran administration took over the college from the society headed by Raghavan in 1997.But the society got its control back when the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) returned to power in 2001 and after the regime change again in 2006, the CPM wrested the society allegedly by rigging elections.Now both are in favour of the government takeover as it had incurred massive losses. The chief minister’s office said it had already taken over the society’s debt burden and had been repaying loans in instalments.The overstaffed venture now has an accumulated debt burden of over Rs5bn and assets worth Rs20bn.The Pariyaram Medical College is a complex of seven institutions including nursing, pharmacy and public schools and a speciality hospital for cardiology. It now has some 2,000 employees, mostly CPM workers. The government plans to convert it into an autonomous institution details of which are not yet known.