NEW DELHI: The world’s first open medical university with proposed campuses across the country and incorporating the distance education system 1s fast coming up at Rajpura in Punjab. “The university, the only one of its kind in the world, is being set up at the existing medical colleges and institutes are unable to meet the country’s health education requirements. Moreover, the government is finding it increasingly difficult to finance even the existing institutions, not to speak of establishing new ones”. GS. Vijaipal, one of the steering committee members of the proposed university said. The university, being set up under the private universities (establishment and regulation Bill) 1995 currently under the consideration of Parliament, will have campuses across the country, with an emphasis on northeast and central India — regions which face an acute shortage of medical education facilities, Mr. Vijaipal said. He is also secretary of the association of university administrators.

Work of the Rs 20 crore project promoted by Swaraj Singh, a nonresident Indian (NRI) medical education and vascular surgeon from the USA has already commenced with the acquisition of a large plot of land on the Ambala Patiala road in Rajpura and formation of a steering committee, comprising noted Indian and international academics, to ‘mobilize human and financial resources to give final shape to the project within the next couple of years, he said. The main objective of the proposed university, Mr. Vijaipal said was to enable acquisition of knowledge in a rapidly developing and changing society by providing an innovative system of university level education which is flexible and open to methods, techniques and pace of learning.

“The project will also contribute to improvement of medical and health education system by providing a conformal channel complimentary to the formal system of education in the country,” Mr, Vijaipal, deputy registrar at the Indira Gandhi National Open University said. Moreover, the university will follow a differential fee structure wherein NRIs, foreign pupils and Indian students will pay different fee for the same course. “The money we get from foreigners and NRIs will be used to subsidize the fee for Indian students.” he said.

Article extracted from this publication >>  October 30, 1996