For this Kerala medical college, India’s first PM was the first patient

The Medical College and Hospital celebrates its 70th anniversary

A few days ago, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College (TMC), the oldest such institution in the southern State, which was formally opened in 1951.

The TMC and its hospital wing, which was set up in the same campus three years later in 1954, have a great historical relevance. Together, the facility now is known as the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Thiruvananthapuram.

According to records, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, inaugurated both the TMC and its hospital wing. And the historical irony about it is that the person who inaugurated the facility, Mr. Nehru, became its first patient.

According to an old book, the Prime Minister suffered a minor injury after his finger got accidently stuck in the metal grill of the building. He was given an immediate treatment under the guidance of eminent surgeon late R. Kesavan Nair, who was also the founding superintendent of the medical college and hospital.

“Thus, Mr. Nehru became the first patient of the hospital and Dr. Kesavan Nair became the first doctor who provided treatment there,” the Malayalam book said.

Titled “Dr. Kesavan Nair: Vaidyasastrathile Ithihasam” (The legend of Medical Sciences), the book, compiled as a memoir of the late medical exponent, also has the picture of Nehru inaugurating the facility.

The ruler of erstwhile Travancore, Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, who had donated ₹4 lakh rupees for setting up the medical college, also could be seen standing along with the Prime Minister in the photograph clicked at the function.