DIBRUGARH, July 26 � Professor Sugan Chand Jain, former officiating principal and ex-head of the Department of Surgery at the Assam Medical College & Hospital, has called upon the Government to set up the proposed All India Institute of Medical Sciences for Assam in Dibrugarh district.
Prof Jain, an eminent academician in the field of medical sciences and a former examiner of surgery in the universities of Dibrugarh, Gauhati, Calcutta, Burdwan and the Benaras Hindu University, said that Dibrugarh has been recognised as a medical township for more than a century, and that the first two X-ray machines in India were also installed here. Besides, the AMCH and the Regional Medical Research Centre under the Indian Council of Medical Research at Lahowal, which is a WHO-declared centre of excellence, can act as supporting institutions, he added.
Talking to this correspondent, the octogenarian social activist recalled the golden days he had passed at the prestigious institute both as a student and professor and finally as the officiating principal-cum-chief superintendent. Prof Jain said that Dibrugarh has a special place in the history of the development of medical services and the medical profession itself in the entire world.
He recalled that when he and one of his associates from the AMCH went to Edinburgh in 1959 to pursue the course leading to the FRCS (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons) degree, the admission process was already over and they were advised to return after six months. However, on being informed that they were from the AMCH, the authorities in Edinburgh immediately arranged for their studies. �Such was the fame associated with the AMCH,� Prof Jain said.
However, over the years, particularly since the beginning of the 1980s, the AMCH has not received due attention from the successive State governments. It is only recently that some developmental activities were taken up at the AMCH, which are however not sufficient to restore the past glory of the AMCH, he said, underlining that an AIIMS-like institute would be fruitful for the region.
