A Prestigious Visit: Retd. Lt. Gen. Dr. Madhuri Kanitkar, Vice Chancellor, (MUHS) at BKL Walawalkar Rural Medical College & Hospital on 15.09.2025
‘Kulguru Katta’ an initiative for direct interaction with the vice chancellor, was celebrated with enthusiasm in B.K.L. Walawalkar Rural Medical College. Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik, organized an initiative called Kulguru Katta at B.K.L. Walawalkar Rural Medical College, Ratnagiri, to directly interact with the students. Vice Chancellor of the MUHS Retd. Lt. Gen. Madhuri Kanitkar was the chairperson of the program. Along with him, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Dr. Milind Nikumbh, Controller of Examinations Dr. Sandeep Kadu, University Registrar Dr. Rajendra Bangal, Director of Student Welfare Department Dr. Devendra Patil, and Dean of the college Dr. Mansingrao Ghatge, and other dignitaries were present.
At the beginning of the program, psychiatrist Mrs. Manasi Hire guided the participants on the topic Benefits of Positivity in Daily Life. Additionally, the Vice Chancellor inaugurated the program by offering water to a sapling, conveying the message of environmental conservation.
More than 200 students and teachers from over 15 affiliated colleges in the Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, and Raigad areas attended this program.
While interacting directly with the students, the Vice Chancellor informed them about the various initiatives being taken by the university to enhance the quality of education. She mentioned scholarship schemes like ‘Earn and Learn’, ‘Savitribai Phule Yojana’, ‘Mahatma Phule Yojana’, and appealed to the students to take advantage of these opportunities. She also explained that “it is necessary to be a good human being, to become a good doctor.”
While interacting directly with the students, the Vice Chancellor informed them about the various initiatives being taken by the university to enhance the quality of education. She mentioned scholarship schemes like ‘Earn and Learn’, ‘Savitribai Phule Yojana’, ‘Mahatma Phule Yojana’, and appealed to the students to take advantage of these opportunities. She also explained that “it is necessary to be a good human being, to become a good doctor.”
Pro-Vice-Chancellor, while explaining the need and utility of the Kulguru Katta initiative, also mentioned that, “this program is not just for listening to complaints, but is a platform for promoting discussion and understanding.” This conversation helped in understanding the issues related to the mental health of students as well. Anchoring and a vote of thanks for the program were conveyed by Dr. Swapnil Torane (Public Relations Officer). Special contributions from Mr. Avinash Sonawane, Smt. Manasi Hire, Mr. Samadhan Jadhav, Mr. Arjun Naglot, Mr. Pushkar Tarhal, Mr. Krishna Bhawar, and Mr. Soham Vanhere were made for the successful organization.
Few words by Lt. Gen. Madhuri Kanitkar, Vice Chancellor, MUHS
“This village-based institute is really a Model”.Lt. Gen. Madhuri Kanitkar, Vice Chancellor, MUHS. Healthcare, medical education & research are three areas of the triangle where they do not meet. And you have compiled it all under one roof. Even the research is targeted at finding solutions for local problems. And I think it is something that is only years of dedication; the crux is the human resource. Money can buy anything, but it cannot replace human resources. And therefore, all of you who are working here are enlightened and lucky to be working here, and have chosen to work under this environment, which is much more than any city can sustain.
So, I think, it is not a village that has been created through a lot of hard work. It has not happened overnight, but everyone produced it. And, I mean, this is an ideal situation where we can gather people who are doing this kind of thing. They need to network and make them impact more at a time when colleges are being opened without any ethos. There must be a philosophy. Like I mentioned yesterday, unless there is a spiritual connect, unless there is a connect with the heart. You need the right combination of head, heart, and hands that work. So, if you have the three combinations, which is a thorough collaboration here, and I think everybody just was very lucky to have a college like this affiliated through the university.
And I am sure the university can learn a lot by collaborating with the college for this aspect because, just I mentioned yesterday, we have just started another ambitious project like Walawalkar started at that point for CHAKRA, which is a Company for Health-Applied Knowledge and Research with Autonomy, to bring in this kind of ethos and work culture into our government. After all, then it will force multiply.
You made an impact. You have a model that has proved to be successful, so this needs to be replicated. Replicated cannot be very easily done unless, again, starting from scratch in different places is not. So, the philosophy of CHAKRA was, can we use the existing and transform them into a ready model? So there, there are a lot of NGOs working similarly, like, I came across, Swades. Have you all connected with them at all? So, they have bought many villages from the Raigad area.
The project is by Mr. Screwvala. And so, these are all different journeys, different ways to reach the same goal. And we cannot be with only Modiji announcing it unless each one of us is contributing. So, this is an excellent model, and we would love to sort of learn from how you have taken it and take it to the next level. Especially our organization. The top colleges are already doing it, whether it is KEM from Bombay. But there are a huge number of colleges that are being started. So, whether we can look at mentorship projects where you can handhold them to take it to that level is something that strikes me. And the second is some of the excellent research that is going on, whether those protocols can be translated to other rural areas. So, Maharashtra has a very holistic view. For example, I am very happy that Gene Health has come forward to look at people collecting hypothyroidism and its variations in the city area, to combine it with the Kokan and coastal area. So, these kinds of things can be translated.
So, I want to firstly thank all of you for hosting us here and a pristine place where the university is trying to reach the colleges, faculty, and students. We all have hosted, so thank you for that as well. And this was a dream visit that I had planned from the time you all first came to meet me when I took over as VC. I am really happy today that it has materialized, and I got to see some excellent work, a work that is being done with the heart. Yeah. Thank you so much, and all the best to you!
