KOCHI: The government medical college, Ernakulam, will soon get a palliative care block thanks to the Cochin International Airport Limited ( Cial ), which earmarked Rs 10 crore from its corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the purpose. Once the construction of the block is over, the activities of palliative care unit at the medical college can be vitalized.The CIAL authorities have entrusted KITCO with the design and implementation of the work. "We are already planning to implement the development projects envisaged in our master plan. The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) would be providing Rs 358 crore required for the project. The projects in the master plan would be implemented by agencies like Inkel," said V K Sreekala, principal, government medical college, Ernakulam. "We have to mark the locations where buildings for various projects would come up. So, KITCO and other agencies conducted a join inspection in the campus to identify locations," she said.The construction of the palliative care block is expected to begin in April. "Besides funding and managing the construction of the building, the CIAL would be procuring equipments as well," a medical college official said.The soil test for constructing the palliative care block would be started soon. In the 2017-18 budget, the state government had allotted Rs 25 crore for the medical college. "Our plan is to start an imaging centre and we will be procuring MRI and CT scanners using the fund," the official said. The construction of imaging centre is all the more important for the medical college as it is required for getting MCI nod for PG courses. The PG students who completed courses from the medical college are yet to get their certificates as the hospital doesn't have adequate equipment. It also suffers from shortage of faculty.It is expected that the KIIFB, which is to meet this week, would be providing funds for implementing projects envisaged in the master plan. Construction of super specialty blocks, operation theatres and an auditorium-cum-library are included in the Rs 358 crore project.