The process of raising Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) to the level of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) gets a boost as the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has invited the CMCH authorities for a discussion on the matter in Delhi on Wednesday.

Talking to the Statesman, Dr Ashok Kumar Bhadra, principal of CMCH, said: “We have been invited to attend the meeting which is part of the procedure of elevating the CMCH to the AIIMS grade.”

Dr Shantanu Guha, head of cardiology, and Dr Nirmal Manna, assistant professor of CMCH, would give a power point presentation in Delhi. At the same time, the medical college has been asked to spell out its requirements.

The medical college officials have decided to ask for funds to build a modern library with internet access, central laboratory with modern machines, nephrology and neuro-surgery units for a better kidney transplant, separate infrastructure for brain and spinal surgery, a modern and big casualty department and revamp the existing burn unit.

“The Centre had allotted about Rs 100 crore in the past two years for the betterment of the institution. We have utilised the fund which we received from the central government judiciously and the medical college has worked well. I believed we have been invited because of this,” said Dr Bhadra.

According to him, the fund has been utilised in building academic block with a 10 storied hostel for the students, OPD block and the almost ready super-speciality block. The work was assigned to two private companies, stated the principal.

The health ministry and the Indian Institute of Public Health assigned eight medical colleges to take part in the workshop on 24 April and 25 April in New Delhi.

CMCH is the only medical institution in eastern India to be shortlisted under the PMSSY scheme to be proposed for higher rank. The other medical colleges that have also been invited are Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Nagpur, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram government medical colleges, Nizams Institute of Medical Science (NIMS) Hyderabad and Institute Of Medical Science (IMS) Varanasi.