By the Editor
Assurances made by ministers on the floor of Assembly or Parliament are considered to be sacred and solemn, and, therefore, to be kept at all cost. In a democracy there are winners and losers but the government goes on uninterruptedly and governance should continue no matter what. Due to unavoidable circumstances, however, changes may occur. Nevertheless, alternative actions, and perhaps better than the original, should be considered as early as possible and accordingly implemented for the benefit of the public. It is wrong for lawmakers to abandon projects promised by earlier governments especially when it concerns human resource development. One such project is the crucial Shillong Medical College, which was expected to start almost ten years back, but has now met a sad fate. Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma announced the unfortunate action on March 8 with a heavy heart which paradoxically coincided with celebration of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) for having completed four years of governance. According to his statement, the company, which was assigned the project, did not start any work at all for the past many years. “The government has decided to scrap the project and move forward”, Sangma told reporters.
Potential medical students and parents received the news with jubilation in 2012 when the then Congress government awarded the Rs 300-crore project to the Kolkata-based KPC Group for setting up a 500-bed hospital-cum-medical college, as per guidelines, followed by laying of foundation stone in 2017. The dream and aspiration of deserving students was dashed to pieces and hopefully they will not choose the wrong path. At the same time, Meghalaya is facing shortage of doctors. Hence, the words, “move forward”, uttered by our chief minister should be translated into reality at the earliest possible since time is moving fast, hardly a year is left before the next general elections in 2023.