SHILLONG:
Health minister James Sangma said on Thursday that the Shillong Medical College is still on the priority list of the government and the department was working to identify ways of commencing work on the same.
Talking on the need to build the medical infrastructure of the state, Sangma clarified that only the agreement with Kolkata-based firm Kali Pradip Choudhury (KPC) Group was scrapped due to various reasons, but the college is still on the cards.
“In the North East, except for Nagaland, every state has a medical college. And for a state like ours, which has always been known as an educational hub, it is unfortunate that we still do not have a state medical college,” Sangma told The Meghalayan during an exclusive interview.
“We need to ensure that our students, who are aspirants of the medical field, can have the choice of studying in the state itself,” he added.
The agreement to build the Shillong Medical College was first signed in 2012 between the state government and KPC Group for a 500-bed hospital-cum-medical college for a cost of about Rs. 300 crore.
However, last week, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma had informed that the government would be scrapping the agreement with KPC Group as work had not resumed due to various factors even after 10 years.
“The college is definitely on our priority list. The agreement with KPC Group did not work out but we will ensure we take a fresh approach to fructify the medical college in Shillong,” the health minister said.