SCB Medical College And Hospital, Cuttack

Campus Location: Cuttack

Located in Sriram Chandra Bhanja S.C.B. Medical College and its hospital, is presently running its 63rd year of existence. Established in the Pre-Independence India, under the British Raj in 1944, it happens to be a pioneer institute in the whole of eastern part of India in medical teaching, training, research and patient care. The saga of its birth, baptism and upbringing is nostalgic and reminds one of the sagacious stewardship of a few worthy sons of Odisha as well as of a handful of benevolent Britishers., Outlining the various events chronologically with regard to the history of this institution right from its early embryonic stage to the present state of growth and evolution, one gets struck with wonder and awe. Starting from a tender, tiny sapling more than one and half century ago, has progressed slowly but steadily to its present amazing form of a mammoth , sprawling tree which in a true sense, ushered in the modern medical practice and training to our State as well as parts of the neighboring states., There existed a small dispensary in the premises of the present medical college during the days of the Marhatta rule in the later half of the eighteenth century. The sole purpose of that dispensary was to render medical assistance to sick pilgrims enroute to and from Puri, especially during the Car Festival of Lord Jagannath. Thousands of devout from all over the sub-continent converged every year to the Puri Dham , one of the four Sacred Dhams of Hindus, during the months of June or July to attend the week long famous festival. On account of the poor sanitary conditions existing then and non-availability of safe potable water, many of them were naturally stricken with communicable diseases like malaria, cholera and gastroenteritis on their protracted journeys. This was a regular annual feature for which, the Marhatta rulers had thoughtfully established some road-side, small dispensaries to cater to the needs of these ailing pilgrims and the one at Cuttack was by far the biggest and comparatively well equipped. This dispensary continued to function admirably till the British occupation of Orissa in 1803 A.D. The British rulers, in due course of time, realised the strategic importance of this dispensary at Cuttack and converted it to a small hospital. Regular financial assistance was made available and the hospital ran smoothly for years thereafter. Following the Great Famine of 1865-66, the British rulers were forced to undertake some development works in Odisha like digging canals, building roads and laying rail tracks in order to improve the communication links to and from the State, but even in such tight financial situation, they did not starve this tiny hospital for adequate funds. they made substantial provisions for it by pumping enough money from the Annachhatra Fund so that the hospital ran smoothly., In 1875, a large hearted Briton, Dr. Stewart, the then Civil Surgeon of Cuttack mooted out the idea of starting a medical school, utilising this hospital as an infrastructural nucleus. In this endeavour, he received the kind support and sincere patronage of the then Lt. Governor, Sir Richard Temple and the Divisional Commissioner, Mr. T.E. Ravenshaw. Thus was born the Orissa Medical School. Since then, Licentiate Medical Practitioners L.M.P. were trained in Orissa. In 1916-17, the Orissa Medical School was affiliated to the Bihar and Orissa Medical Examination Board which granted the LMP Diploma.. Use Google Maps for turn-by-turn driving directions to the campus.