LUCKNOW, July 16 -- The Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical University (ABVMU) will expand beyond its role as an affiliating university by establishing its own medical college with 100 MBBS seats, deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak announced on Wednesday. Addressing the university's second convocation ceremony, Pathak said the proposal had already been submitted to the state government and was expected to receive approval shortly. The proposed college will also offer BSc (Nursing) and paramedical courses, besides providing affordable treatment to patients and boosting the state's pool of trained healthcare professionals. Presiding over the convocation, governor Anandiben Patel directed medical institutions to publicise the Centre's decision to abolish customs duty on 17 cancer medicines by prominently displaying their old and revised prices to ensure patients benefited from lower costs and were not misled. The governor also sought accountability over the underutilisation of ABVMU's infrastructure, questioning why its auditorium had hosted only one programme in the past year despite the campus having around 13 halls. She also asked every medical university to adopt five villages and every medical college two to three villages to strengthen awareness on vaccination, maternal health, sanitation and preventive healthcare. Vice-chancellor Dr Amit Devgan announced that the university would establish a state-of-the-art skill lab and launch the 'Skill on Wheels' initiative, under which two mobile training buses would provide three-day hands-on training programmes for nursing students across UP. He also announced the constitution of a Medical Research Committee to support research by students and faculty. ABVMU has over 400 affiliated medical, dental, nursing and paramedical colleges across UP. The university caters to over 90,000 students and has nearly 10,000 faculty members across its affiliated institutions....