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19 Mar 2026

Smt. Chandraben Piyushbhai Kothari (Jewelex) Institute of Nursing Relocates to New Malana Campus

The nursing institute at the new campus

The Smt. Chandraben Piyushbhai Kothari (Jewelex) Institute of Nursing, which had been set up in 2023, has shifted to its new, permanent premises at
the Malana Campus of the Vidyamandir Centre for Skill Development (VCSD).

This marks an important step forward for the Vidyamandir Trust, which during its 75th anniversary celebrations in 2023, had laid the foundation stone for the new Skill Centre that would help bridge the gap between the education received in schools and colleges and the specific manpower needs of industry.

In the three years since then, the nursing college, which operated temporarily from within the existing Vidyamandir campus in Palanpur has seen two batches of students complete the two-year long ANM diploma course (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) successfully. The third batch was enrolled last year.

Anish Kothari, managing trustee of the new institute emphasized that the shift to a large specially designed and fully equipped campus will enable the college to operate at a much larger scale than before.

The hostel at Malana campus for girls

He reveals that the first batch had 43 successful students, and the second had 38, but the aim is to be able to enroll 60 students in each subsequent batch from now, as well as to offer the longer GNM course (General Nursing & Midwifery).

The successful candidates will be able to feed into the medical infrastructure in and around Palanpur which has now become an important medical hub for North Gujarat and even the adjacent border districts of Rajasthan.

Over the last three years, the nursing institute has developed a network of contacts across Banaskantha and neighbouring districts, to recruit students. The focus is on enrolling young women mainly from villages in remote areas with predominantly Scheduled Tribe populations.

Classes in progress at the new campus

Alongside the nursing training, the students are also given training in soft skills – particularly to achieve minimum levels of skill in communicating in English and using a computer. The aim is to ensure that the girls are equipped to carry out tasks related to the ANM responsibilities.

The college aims to introduce short term courses of varied durations – from 3 months to a year – for other health services related skills – e.g. X Ray and Lab technicians, Home visits for Sample collection, etc.

“The last three years has been a learning process for us, and we are now better equipped to move up the ladder and be recognized for delivering premium training. The aim is to ensure that the institute matches the standards set by other VMT institutes. We want graduates from the institute to be of high quality so that we are adding value to the hospital / medical infrastructure that has come up in Palanpur. The overall quality of medical care in the city should rise and Palanpur should consolidate its position as a medical hub,” Kothari adds.

The skill centre has also begun preliminary discussions regarding other non-medical skill training courses that can be launched at the Malana campus as it develops.