He also promised that his ministry would provide all financial grants and amenities to J. N. Medical College at par with those of top central government hospitals in New Delhi.
Addressing the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the J. N. Medical College at the Kennedy Auditorium here Mr Azad said: “19 medical colleges of the country including J. N. Medical College of AMU are being upgraded to the level of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences”.
On the eve of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, minister also inaugurated Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology with a cost of Rs. 4 crore and also laid down the foundation of the upgradation of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College hospital under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY), Phase-II with a cost of Rs. 150 lakhs
Speaking on the occasion Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Communications and Information Technology, Mr. Kapil Sibal said that he was aware that the grants of J. N. Medical College have not been revised for a long time and assured that within a month sufficient grants on a normative basis would be ensured for the College.
He said that the MHRD will make “certain” that this college is counted amongst the best medical institutions in the country in the years to come.
“It is unfortunate that the health parameter indicates for the Muslim community in India are at the bottom of the pile. We face great challenges in the field of health”, said Sibal.
Both Sibal and Azad asked the AMU students to play their due role in fulfilling the dreams of their founding father, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
The Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Lt. General (Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah reminded the minister that the J. N. Medical College, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmad Dental College and Ajmal Khan Tibbiya College in the campus have obsolete medical facilities due to inadequate financial support.
He urged both the Ministers to provide a budgetary one time grant of Rs. 200 crores for modernization, repair and replacement of facilities and equipment at all the three medical establishments.
VC also urged them to increase the PG seats in the three institutions and requested for the establishment of a College for Paramedical Courses in AMU which will impart vocational training in paramedical courses.
General Shah also laid emphasis on the need for upgradation of J. N. Medical College by establishing a Cardiology Centre, cancer Care Centre and Critical Care Management Centre.
He also urged that AMU be exempted from National Board of Examination to select entrants for MBBS to National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
Prof. M. H. Beg, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Prof. M. Ashraf Malik, Principal and Chief Medical Superintendent, J. N. Medical College, prof. S. H. Hashmi, Principal, Dr. Z. A. Dental College and Prof. Saud Ali Khan, Principal, A. K. Tibbiya College also spoke on the occasion.