Even as the centenary celebrations of the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI) are under way, the statue of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar will be unveiled at the MMCRI campus by November-end.
The 1962 batch of students of MMCRI had announced that they would install the statue as part of the centenary celebrations. The statue was transported to the MMCRI campus on Tuesday and installed at the designated place under the supervision of the MMCRI officials and some members of the 1962 batch.
MMCRI is the 7th medical college in the country and the first in the State to attain the centenary feat, according to information available.
The college and the hospitals attached to the MMCRI are housed in heritage buildings constructed nearly 100 years ago during the rule of Mysuru Maharajas.
MMCRI Dean and Director K.R. Dakshayani said the students of 1962 batch were planning to invite Pramoda Devi Wadiyar of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family to unveil the statue. The date of unveiling is yet to be confirmed, she added.
A group of former students, who are working in NIMHANS in Bengaluru, have proposed to hold a lecture series for the benefit of students, the dean said.
Dr. Dakshayani said the month-long centenary medical exhibition is under way at the newly-built library building on the MMCRI campus. It is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the entry to the expo is free. Doctors will be present in different shifts to explain the exhibits to the visitors.
As part of the centenary, MMCRI had displayed its tableau during the Mysuru Dasara procession.
MMCRI had sought a special grant from the Centre for marking the centenary. But, so far, there has been no word from the Centre. The MMCRI had also put forward its proposals to the State government seeking special grants. The government has promised to look into the appeal.
In August, Pratap Simha, Mysuru MP, met Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya and urged him to provide financial assistance to MMCRI for the celebrations and also for the construction of an OPD block on the premises of K.R. Hospital, the teaching hospital of MMCRI.
The previous BJP government had sanctioned ₹89 crore for the renovation of the heritage hospital buildings, which is under way. Presently, K.R. Hospital caters to 2,500 OPD patients and 800 in-patients daily.
MMCRI had prepared a DPR for the construction of the OPD block that cost around ₹80 crore. The State Medical Education Department was planning to submit the DPR to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.
