SHILLONG:
Meghalaya government is all set to take major decisions with regard to the setting up of three medical colleges in the state.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, on August 23, informed that the major decisions will be announced during the upcoming Cabinet meeting on Friday.
“We have been working on this for the last many months. In fact, it started in the last term itself but the day after tomorrow, we will be making some major announcements. The health minister will make the announcement after we have passed it in the Cabinet,” he said.
Sangma said that the government will be announcing its plan for at least three medical colleges.
“We will be putting in a timeline on how long it will take and at the same time the money that is going to be spent on it and the working mechanism in which it will happen. With the completion of these three medical colleges which are going to be there, I am sure we are going to be able to produce almost more than what we are getting today and very much in the comfort of our own state,” he added.
The chief minister said that the health minister has been very particular on this as it required financial interventions which had to be done at his level.
“We have done that last week and now it is only a Cabinet note which is waiting to be approved,” he said while adding that this again will be a major step to ensure overall human resource requirement that is there will be met in a much planned manner.
On Tuesday, Health minister Ampareen Lyngdoh had stated the state should not declare a medical college if it is not ready because “85 to 93 seats that we get regularly for our students as sponsored seats from all the States in supervision of the Union government will stop coming.”
When sought for his comment on this, Sangma said, “It is a policy that is everywhere in the country. Any state that has its own medical college does not get the quota in the other colleges so it is always a give and take and we will have to take a decision at one point and that is the reason why I am telling you wait for the Cabinet as all of these points will be brought up, everybody should be aware of the kind of repercussion but not in a negative manner and what are the things that will happen post decision is made and what financial implication more importantly – so all these have been discussed. I am quite firm, we have to move forward in those things and as I said let the Cabinet give the green signal the day after tomorrow and the minister will share the details.”