“The alumni of PGI has done us proud both in the country and abroad and has earned the place of pride for itself”, said Sh. Pawan Kuman Bansal, Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways while inaugurating the PGIMER Golden Jubilee Alumni Convention today. Sardar Partap Singh Kairon’s dream had been realized who had conceived the Institute. PGI had produced best of faculty and quality patient care in this region and in the country, he said. Sh.Bansal promised to contribute two crore rupees out of MPLAD Fund for upgradation of various departments in PGI.
Earlier Sh.Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, Hon’ble Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, Govt. of Punjab and grandson of Sardar Partap Singh Kairon recollected his memories of PGI as a child and appreciated the progress the Institute had made in all aspects growing from 225 beds to 2000 today.
Prof.Yogesh Chawla, Director PGIMER while welcoming the guests said, “PGI Alumni has done well not only in India but across the globe and are holding key positions in various reputed medical institutes in Europe, USA and Asia, some of whom are with us today. In fact the President of Nepal, Sh. Ram Baran Yadav and Mr. Mookeshwar Choonee, Hon’ble Minister of Arts and Culture, Mauritius are our proud students. An Alumni Cell has been established at the Institute.
In this journey of 50 years PGI has made significant contribution in the field of medical education, research and quality patient care. The institute has not only achieved leadership in many areas but also has established itself as the best service provider, an achievement recently highlighted in a national weekly where we are placed second. PGI has a faculty strength of almost 500 faculty and more than 8000 other members of staff including nurses and technicians. In the last year we had taken care of 18 lac outdoor patients and almost 67000 admissions. The average patient attendance per day in our OPD is almost 7000”.
Sh.Bansal and others on the dais lighted the lamp and released a compendium on the achievements in fifty years of the Institute. Prof. I.C.Pathak, the senior most faculty and former Director of PGI appreciated the strides the Institute had made in his lifetime. Prof.S.K.Jindal, Chairman, Golden Jubilee Celebrations conducted the function. Prof.Amod Gupta, Dean, PGI delivered the vote of thanks. Later the alumni cell of PGIMER was formally inaugurated.
Over 600 alumni were present at the function and participated in the Convention. Some of the important areas which were discussed included the building and development of excellence, boundaries and barriers of medical practice etc. The speakers highlighted the importance of excellence in the developing areas and specialties on one hand and of the primary and community care on the other. Several speakers talked about their old times and experiences at the PGI including the tradition of the clinico-pathological conferences and the stress on clinical examination.
There was a musical programme in the evening by the famous play-back singer, Mr Suresh Wadekar. Later, the alumni and faculty members also expressed their talent in singing and music during the dinner time.
The meeting will continue tomorrow in the forenoon with more academic sessions and future perspectives.