Pokhara, December 15

Nineteen years after its establishment, Pokhara University is all set to start a medical college in the lake city itself.

Though the university had tried to execute this plan several times in the past, they had not been successful. Now, the varsity has signed an agreement with the District Administration Office, Lekhnath municipality, and local civil society representatives to take 799 ropani of state-owned land on lease at Syaltaharo of Lekhnath for the medical college.

The varsity can proceed with getting land ownership documents  after a monitoring of the District Land Revenue Office for the land’s authenticity. “The project will take a leap soon after we get a letter in mutual coordination with the Ministry of Land Reform and the Ministry of Forest,” said the varsity’s Registrar Govinda Prasad Sharma. “We have allocated Rs 50 million as the first installment of the project, and we will start constructing the infrastructure this year, and finish it within five years,” he said.

“As there must be 1,400 beds for a teaching hospital, we have started work seeking 799 ropani of adjacent land,” said Sharma.

The college will run Bachelors to MD degrees. The university has been offering Pharmacy, B Sc in Nursing, BDS, BPH, and Pathology under health sciences. The university will develop infrastructure for laboratories in coordination with Manipal Teaching Hospital, Gandaki Medical College, and BP Koirala Cancer Hospital. “We are ready to set a para-medical hospital for immediate purposes and the preliminary preparation for the medical college,” said Sharma.

“As we have already received the file related to the land, we will take a necessary decision to this effect within a few days. The central process will develop if no disputes are found at the local level during monitoring,” said Chief of District Land Revenue Office Kaski Chiranjibi Sapkota.