New Project

A New Medical College Hospital in Kochi

It is a 350-bed medical college hospital in the coastal belt of Thrissur and Ernakulam district

Sree Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences

Gurudeva Charitable Trust (GCT), a non-profit organisation, has opened Sree Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences (SNIMS), a new generation medical college. Located 14 kilometres away from Kochi airport, SNIMS Hospital is 350-bed medical college hospital in the coastal belt of Thrissur and Ernakulam district, providing all the speciality services.

SNIMS will be affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam and currently opened its doors to 100 students. This hospital is the first of the series of healthcare projects that GCT has rolled out. The trustee members are a group of NRIs from the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries.

The group has plans to build dental and nursing colleges and paramedical courses. Also, in the agenda is to develop Ayurveda and other alternative medical systems. The group plans to give free medical treatment to poor NRIs and road accident victims from the UAE who cannot afford the medical expenses in the UAE. The trust has raised Dh100 million.

The group's first project, SNIMS, received permission from the Medical Council of India (MCI) to admit 100 students. The trust has more than 400 trustees and out of 60 trust directors, 52 are immigrant Keralites from the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the US and Hong Kong.

MG Pushpakaran, a leading Keralite businessman in the UAE and Vice-President of the Executive Committee, said, "The objective of the trust is to construct a 650-bed hospital. There are 52 directors, mainly from the UAE and Middle East, who have contributed to the project. We plan to increase the total number of directors to 100 and there are many philanthropists and NRIs with charitable intent keen to participate in the project."

For the first six years, the trustees of GCT do not expect any profit, adding that this investment in the project is due to their commitment to philanthropic obligations which the saint advocated to help socially and economically disadvantaged people. "We are planning to deliver free treatment to the poor and sick NRIs. Accident victims from the Gulf will get free treatment in the 350-bed hospital, which is part of the medical college," said PP Sreenivasan, Treasurer, GCT. He added that more than 80 per cent of the Dh100 million fund needed for the GTC medical and education projects are given from the NRIs in the Middle East.

The overall administration, management and control of the trust is vested with a board of directors, formed on the basis of a membership scheme that ensures the participation of a wide range of people with charitable intentions. The believers of Sree Narayana Guru are categorised into 'A, B and C' class trustees. Individual or corporate bodies contributing Rs 30 million are institutional trustees who get a membership in the board of directors. Those who contribute Rs 5 million are A class trustees, and individual or corporate bodies contributing Rs 1 million fall into Class B and Rs 0.5 million are class C trustees.

One out of five B class trustees and one out of 10 C class trustees are elected to become board of directors. Said Polassery Sudhakaran, Secretary, GCT, "We have introduced a free medical treatment scheme for 10,000 poor families below the poverty line and the scheme is already being used by 48,000 families. We are evolving a scheme that will provide 50 per cent discount to labourers returning from Gulf countries.

GCT is also planning to launch a scheme to meet medical expenses of financially disadvantaged NRIs who meet with an accident and are seeking treatment in India.

There are also future plans to build a dental college and paramedical college in the nearby area. GCT has already acquired 46.4 acres of land.

The institute will also cater to the market for alternative medicines, especially ayurveda, which is synonymous with the south India. Sidhi and homeopathic medicine will be promoted by the medical college, which may ultimately become a deemed university.

Nancy Singh