SHILLONG:
State Health and family Welfare Minister, James Sangma, on July 28, said that the state government is scouting for another land to build a medical college in Shillong since the present location at Umsawli will not be enough to have a “decent” institute.
“Seeing the urgency of the matter, we are trying to pursue the matter at the earliest so that the medical college can be rolled out soon,” the Health and Family Welfare Minister said.
Sangma also said that a new tender will be called in so that new parties, which are interested to run the medical college, can participate to set up a reputed medical college.
The Health and Family Welfare Minister also said that the government understands the need to have its own medical college since many are leaving the state to study medicine.
“Looking at the urgency of the matter, we feel that we must go ahead and ensure that the Shillong Medical College come about as early as possible,” Sangma reiterated.
He also said that it was alarming that a premier institute like North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) was losing its faculty to other institutes of the country.
“It is a loss not just for the state of Meghalaya, but also for the people of Northeast because we have many people coming from the region to this institute for treatment,” Sangma said.
He also said that the state government has communicated with the Centre on the matter and lodged their concerns so that remedial actions can be taken at the earliest.
Sangma, however, admitted that it will be challenging for the Centre to accommodate medical students who came from Ukraine following the Russian invasion of the country in the country’s medical colleges.
“It has emerged out of a situation which no one expected. But I am very sure the Centre would be able to work on the situation and must be thinking of some solutions as we speak,” the Health and Family Welfare Minister said.
Addressing the sudden spike in the number of Covid cases in the state, the Health minister said that the government is constantly monitoring the situation.
“As of now the cases are increasing and we want to keep a watch on that. We will be taking a call on whether any changes in the protocols are required,” Sangma said.
Stating that the state’s medical infrastructure is well-equipped to tackle any eventuality in this regard, Sangma said that the government is cautious and will make sure that any sudden surge in the Covid cases doesn’t overburden the existing set-up.
Notably, the new Covid cases in the state stand at 114 while active cases are 687.