KOLKATA: An alumnus of BE College, Shibpur – now an IIEST – has offered to donate Rs 350 crore to set up a 200-bed hospital on the campus. This is more than the Rs 230 crore the Union government has sanctioned for the medical college to come up at IIT-Kharagpur.  Mahadev Kundu, a 1968 batch civil engineering graduate from BE College, works as a consultant in the US. His only wish is that the hospital be named after his wife, who is a very successful doctor there. The proposed name is Usha Kundu MD Medical College and Hospital. If this project comes true, it will put the country’s first IIEST – a nearly 160-year-old institution – in a different league altogether.  “IIEST has over 150 years of experience in engineering education in India. Therefore, it is a natural choice to house such a modern medical school to implement the convergence of engineering, science, technology and medicine. It has existing teaching staff for most of the basic science, medical technology and information technology courses in the existing facilities,” reads Kumdu’s proposal.

An official at IIEST said Kundu selected his alma mater because he has a “strong bond with the institution”. “The proposal is to set up the medical college and hospital in the name of his wife who is a doctor,” the official said. IIEST director Ajay Roy has placed the proposal before the senate, where the main concern during the discussions was finding the land for the hospital. Roy plans to meet state government officials and request them to allocate 10 acres. “The proposed hospital needs practicing physicians and surgeons from the private sector to bring patients for surgeries. Kolkata has a large pool of competent physicians and surgeons. We will be able to recruit teaching staff. The institute is an ideal location and the medical school and hospital, if it becomes a reality, can cater to a large segment of Kolkata’s population,” Roy said.  “I hope chief minister Mamata Banerjee will consider the proposal to allot land once we approach her. The HRD ministry, too, will consider our proposal sympathetically and give the requisite permissions.”

The proposal specifies that the hospital-cum-medical school will aim to provide a “biomedical science-centric model of education”, enhanced by convergence of engineering science and technology. It envisages 3D anatomy classrooms and integrating healthcare with smartphones, tabs and other futuristic devices. “They (the Kundus) have proposed to design the medical college by fusing engineering, computing, health science and medicine,” added Roy. “The proposal also mentions research on drugs. We may also set up a centre for forensic medicine,” he added. The project envisages creating a patient transport system, continuing education for practicing doctors, telemedicine in every town and live video telecast of surgeries to MBBS students.  “Kundu Charitable Trust will be willing to donate majority of its assets to the medical college and hospital once it is approved. Funds will be distributed over a 10-year period from the retirement account and remainder as per their estate planning documents. There will be other sources of income from donations, grants, tuition fee of students. The initial fund will be for building the hospital and part of the medical school for 100 students a year.  Rest of the facility will be developed over the next 10 years,” says the proposal.  –  Courtesy