Imphal, September 14, 2009: The 38th foundation day of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal was celeberated in grandeur at the Jubilee hall of the institute today.

Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi who was the chief guest at the celeberations inaugurated the newly constructed semicircular main gate of the RIMS.

He also opened a three-day medical exhibition at the institute.

As part of the foundation day celeberations, graduation certificates were distributed to 91 students by the Chief Minister, Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Mukul Sangma who was the guest of honour and state Health Minister Ph Parijat who presided over the function.

Director of RIMS, Dr L Fimate administered the Hippocratic oath to the MBBS graduates.

Speaking at the function, Chief Minister Ibobi exhorted the doctors to perform their duty in the interest of the humanity.

He said, Manipur government at present requires at least 400 more doctors.

Because of shortage of doctors, the district hospitals are facing various inconveniences.

Therefore, the government is taking steps to fill up the vacancies, he said.

The Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) is the pride of not only Manipur but of all the 'Seven Sisters' of North East India and Sikkim, said the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister further said that RIMS is today one of the premier medical institutions in the entire country and the doctors of the institute can compete with their counterparts from other institutes of India.

The institute cannot produce many post graduates and specialists due to lack of faculty and infrastructure, but the state government will continue to urge the central government to provide all the facilities lacking in the institute so that it can bring out more specialist doctors and post graduates in future, he said.

Congratulating all the graduate students, he expressed happiness at observing that most of the students who graduated today are females because the government of India has issued clear instructions that each public health service centre should have at least two female doctors.

Deputy chief minister of Meghalaya, Dr Mukul Sangma who graced the occasion as the guest of honour recalled his days as a student in RIMS and said that there were much less privileges and facilities when he was a student of the institute.

He declared that he was proud to be a product of RIMS and stated that whatever he is today, it all started from RIMS.

He asserted that RIMS is the best medical institute in the North East as he has visited and seen all the other medical institutes in the region and added that doctors who had graduated from RIMS are all doing very well in their respective states.

He stated that RIMS is going to be the best institute in India in the near future as there is a lot of room for growth of the institute and the privileges and facilities are increasing more than ever before.

State health minister, Ph Parijat who graced the occasion as the president said that the state is very lucky to have an institute like RIMS which provide doctors to the North Eastern states and the rest of India.

He disclosed that the government of Manipur, as per a cabinet resolution passed recently, is going to recruit 300 doctors through the Manipur Public Service Commission for filling up the vacancies of doctors in the health centers of the state that has been lying vacant for the past many years.

Giving the vote of thanks, the medical superintendent of RIMS, Y Mohen drew the attention of the chief minister and health minister of Manipur to the fact that RIMS has storage capacity for 6 dead bodies only in its mortuary which is not good enough as the number of death bodies sometimes exceeded the storage capacity due to the fact that dead bodies are not promptly taken away by family members and relatives leading to decomposition of the dead bodies and air pollution in the area surrounding the mortuary.

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