Last Updated on 20/08/2024 by wccexam Desk
People across the country are angry over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata. The accused in this case is in the custody of the CBI. The court has given permission for his polygraph test. But at the center of this entire incident is Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
This Medical College and Hospital has great importance in the healthcare system of Kolkata. It was established in 1886. It was the first non-government medical college in Asia, which laid the foundation of the healthcare system in West Bengal and across the country. It was established by Dr. Radha Govind Kar, who was also the first secretary of this medical college and held this position until his death in 1918.
The Government of West Bengal took over this medical college on 12 May 1958. It is affiliated to the West Bengal University of Health Sciences and recognized by the Medical Council of India. Apart from post doctoral (DM/MCH), PG diploma and fellowship programs, undergraduate (MBBS) and post graduate (MS/MD) medical education are taught here.
Radha Govind Kar was a visionary social reformer who started a medical college from a rented house in Baithakkhana Bazar Road, Calcutta. He was born in 1852 during the British Raj. His father was a physician. Radha Govind Kar studied medicine from Bengal Medical College. Bengal Medical College was the oldest medical college in Asia at that time. It later came to be known as the famous Calcutta Medical College. After graduation, he went to England for further studies and returned to India in 1886 with a medical degree.
According to the report, on returning to India he realised that the country’s colonial culture was a hindrance for a large number of people, due to which they were not able to take advantage of the existing medical schools as students and patients.
This gave him the idea of establishing a new medical college and thus the Calcutta School of Medicine was established in 1886. According to an article published in the US National Library of Medicine in 2011, the first medical course of the medical college was of three years and medical studies were conducted in the Bengali language.
The building rented on Baithak Khana Road in Calcutta was later shifted to Bowbazar Street. However, at that time it did not have the word hospital in its name. Due to this, students had to go to Mayo Hospital in Howrah for training.
According to a report in The Telegraph, in 1898, four acres of land was bought in Belgachia for Rs 12,000 to build the college building. Four years later, in 1902, the then governor Lord Woodburn inaugurated a 30-bed, single-story hospital, which was named after Britain’s Prince Albert Victor. After this, two more floors of the hospital were built. The building of that time remains the same even today.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Bengal, formed in 1885, merged with RG Kar Medical in 1904. After this, the name of Calcutta School of Medicine was changed to Belgachia Medical College in 1916. But Kar died two years later in 1918.
Before his death, the college achieved many achievements. With time, a new surgical building and anatomy block were built in the college. Asia’s first psychiatry OPD was also opened here. Sir Kedarnath Das Maternity Hospital was built in its campus in 1935. Along with this, the cardiology department was also set up in 1939.
After the country gained independence in 1947, the popularity of this medical college and hospital grew. A few months after independence, on 12 May 1948, its name was changed to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital after the name of its founder Dr. RG Kar.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)