There shall be no dearth of fund for upgrading Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal to an all India institute. This was stated by Shri Debasish Panda, Joint Secretary (Northeast) of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India at the conclusion of his two-day official visit to RIMS from 13th to 14th March 2012. He made the encouraging announcement while interacting with the Director Prof S. Sekharjit Singh, the Heads of Department, the Principal in-charge of College of Nursing, Prof N. Damayanti Devi in the conference annexe of the Jubilee Hall. He had basically come to monitor the progress of the ongoing construction works and look into what more urgent constructions of the infrastructures are needed.

Earlier accompanied by the Director, the Principal in-charge, officials and other faculty members, Shri Debasish Panda had visited the different departments during which, he saw for himself the old buildings, inadequate laboratories, operation theatres and other facilities. These had been constructed for educating just 50 students of the region. Now, the strength of the under-graduate students has been increased to 100, which included 15 students from all India quotas. Besides, the number of post-graduate students from other north-eastern and all India States has been increased to 150. Most of the States are not maintaining the 27 per cent reservation for the OBC students. It is primarily due to the fact that such communities are not found in some of the north-eastern States. Referring to it, Shri Debasish Panda said that it is mandatory for the States concerned to maintain this reservation and if there is any infraction, it should be brought to the notice of the Health Ministry for necessary actions.

During the interaction session, several heads of departments brought up difficulties they were facing as a result of absence of modern equipments and malfunctioning of the outdated ones. Panda promised to address these issues in the near future. Shortage of water and unreliable power supply position are the major handicaps. Prof H. Shanti Singh, the Medical Superintendent said that there is a shortage of drugs and the old operation theatres need be improved. These buildings were constructed over 40 years ago and by any standard, these need be demolished and new ones constructed. Prof N. Damayanti Devi pointed out that many posts in the College of Nursing are vacant. It may be recalled that 50 students from the north-eastern region are enroled into this college every year. Everyday there are about 40 deliveries in the Department of Obst & Gynecology. As there is a shortage of beds, at least two expectant mothers are seen occupying a single bed. Besides, there are numerous patients on the floor making, it is almost impossible for the doctors, paramedics and visitors to walk around in the wards.

Shri Debasish Panda said that Rs 129 crore had been sanctioned for the construction of the out-patient department, hostels for under-graduate and post-graduate students, drainage and wastage disposal plant and purchasing of furniture. He also disclosed that another Rs 230 crore will be sanctioned for the second phase of expansion of RIMS. This will include the construction of the administrative block, the hospital complex, residential quarters, and water supply facilities. Now RIMS is buying water in tankers on daily basis for the hospital and the administrative block. Once these constructions are over, RIMS will wear a new look. There are some encroachers inside the 306 acre RIMS campus. Since these encroachers enjoy political patronage it has not been possible to evict them. The Joint Secretary underlined the imperative need to evict these encroachers. Besides, he said that a boundary will have to be constructed. This is widely welcomed by the RIMS staff. In the past, anti-social elements had been freely entering the campus to lift cars and two-wheelers and create other law and order problems.