Cabinet Approval: Meghalaya to get 3 new medical colleges

Shillong: In a major boost to medical education in Meghalaya, three new medical colleges are going to be set up soon in the next few years to upgrade the quality of healthcare and medical education in the state.

The confirmation in this regard came after the Meghalaya government approved the initiative on Friday. As part of its initiative, the government will establish three new medical colleges in - Shillong, Tura, and Ri Bhoi.

The state Cabinet on Friday finalized the roadmap for the immediate procedure starting of the three Medical Colleges in Meghalaya. A committee has been constituted and a proposal has been made on how the colleges will be set up and operationalized.

Shillong Medical College

Sharing the details online, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma tweeted, "For the Shillong Medical College, the Health Department is exploring to leverage the existing resources like Civil Hospital, Shillong, Ganesh Das Hospital and existing human resources like Specialist Doctors and others who can potentially become faculty members."

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The government has approved 50 MBBS seats in the first phase for the Shillong Medical College, however, it is believed that there is a possibility that an additional 50 MBBS seats will be added after a certain period. 

The medical college will be established at a cost of Rs 114 crore and the construction is expected to be completed within the next 2-3 years

“The Shillong medical college, since we already have existing infrastructure and around 550 beds are there besides having existing faculty that are going to be trained in the next 2-3 years to become the faculty – the projected cost would be around Rs 114 crore,” said Principal Secretary in-charge Health & Family Welfare Sampath Kumar.

Tura Medical College

The Tura Medical College will be established at a cost of Rs 247 crore as sanctioned by the state government. In addition, the Central government is also funding Rs 180 crore for the project.

Tura Medical College is already in the pipeline & the Health Department will finalize the function of the Medical College including human resources and are exploring a PPP model through a tie-up with reputed Medical Institutions to operationalize the Medical College.

Ri Bhoi Medical College 

The P A Sangma International Medical College in Ri Bhoi District is a private initiative by the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya which has come up with a mutually beneficial proposal where they are offering free and concessional medical seats to the students of the state and requesting for financial assistance through a repayable loan which is being considered to go on a Swiss Challenge mode.

Addressing the media after the Cabinet, Health & Family Welfare Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh told Hub News “We will immediately start the process. We may have in the next 2-5 years, at least 140 good seats for the State of Meghalaya. This will increase proportionately every time. We are looking at a target of 240 or maybe 340 seats.”

Adding to the Minister’s statement, Sampath Kumar said "The medical college is facing challenges related to faculty. The Cabinet has asked the department to explore how that can be run using PPP mode by identifying reputed medical institutions to help in terms of operationalizing the college."

Medical Dialogues team had recently reported that the Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar confirmed that 50 more MBBS seats will be added to the seat matrix of North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) from next year.

When asked if the Centre will support Meghalaya in having its own medical colleges, the Union Minister of State for Health said, "The government is definitely going to support and we are also strengthening NEIGRIHMS. We will also provide support for the next medical college."

Also read- NEIGRIHMS Gains Additional 50 MBBS Seats