The State Government has extended the tenure of C.N. Manjunath as director of the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research by one year. The decision was kept hanging till the last minute, with his earlier term ending on July 19.
His term extension comes amidst pressure from various quarters. Cutting across party lines, several elected representatives had called upon Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai (who heads the Jayadeva’s governing council) to continue Dr. Manjunath as the director.
Employees of Jayadeva institute, including doctors and paramedical staff at Bengaluru and Kalaburgi, had submitted a memorandum seeking his extension to the Chief Minister on July 16.
NMC norms
Although he superannuated a few years ago, he has five more years’ eligibility to continue as director, as per National Medical Commission (NMC) norms.
According to the NMC’s “Teachers’ Eligibility Qualifications in Medical Institutions Regulations, 2022” notified in the gazette on February 14, 2022, the maximum age limit up to which a person can be appointed or granted extension or re-employed in service against the posts of teacher, Medical Superintendent, Dean, Principal or Director has been increased to 70 years.
Thanking the Chief Minister and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar for the extension, Dr. Manjunath told The Hindu that the Chief Minister personally communicated the decision to him on Monday.
World-class facility
Dr. Manjunath is credited for the institute ranking first in the field of interventional cardiology in the country. Recording 500% growth in the last 12 years, the institute is said to be the largest public sector heartcare destination in the world with a total 1,800 beds now. It has branches in three revenue divisions of Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Kalaburagi. While Mysuru has 400 beds, Kalaburagi has 130 beds. Work on upgrading the Kalaburagi branch to 350 beds is underway.
Besides, Jayadeva also has a 70-bed unit in ESIC hospital in Rajajinagar. A 50-bed satellite centre of Jayadeva at K.C. General hospital will become functional in another month. With Belagavi being the only revenue division left out, the Chief Minister announced a 350-bed branch of Jayadeva institute in Hubballi at a cost of ₹260 crore. The work on this is likely to begin shortly, Dr. Manjunath said.
The Infosys Foundation under the leadership of Sudha Murty constructed a 350-bed cardiac hospital complex on the present Jayadeva hospital premises.
Affordable
With this, Jayadeva hospitals — all put together — have 15 cardiac cathlabs, the highest in any government-run cardiac facility in the country. Providing cardiac care at an affordable cost to all sections of the society and free treatment to the deserving poor, the institute annually conducts more than 40,000 cardiac cathlab procedures (the highest in the country), including coronary angiograms, angioplasties, stents, pacemakers.
In addition to government grants and support, nearly 35-40 Charitable Organisations are supporting the cause of poor patients’ cardiac treatment. The cost of various procedures such as angioplasties, stents, pacemakers and open heart surgeries is nearly 60% less here compared to private hospitals.
