SHILLONG:
Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh informed on Tuesday that the state will have its own medical college only when it is ready for it instead of losing the seats that it gets from other states by hastily declaring any medical college .
“One thing that the state of Meghalaya must understand very clearly is that if you are not ready for a medical college, you should not declare a medical college. 85 to 93 seats that we get regularly for our students as sponsored seats from all the states under supervision of the Union government will stop coming. Therefore, we will only have a medical college when we are ready for it,” she said.
The minister informed that right now, the under-construction Tura medical college is facing infrastructural challenges.
“Budgets are overshooting. There has been some confusion, conflict between implementation of these infrastructures, contract and the department that has to actually execute the work in Garo Hills. So there is a bit of a delay,” she said.
Lyngdoh further revealed that the government would require over Rs 136 crore to complete the Tura medical college.
“We are now engaging actively with the chief minister to ensure that we have Rs 136 odd crore that is required for completing the Tura medical college,” she added.
In the Khasi Hills region, the minister said that the government is looking at another model where facilities within Shillong city and its neighbouring areas can be utilised as medical colleges.
“We are looking at Civil Hospital, the Umsawli facility there, Ganesh Das, Reid Chest Hospital – where we already have sufficient infrastructure. Allow us to study this matter properly,” she added.
“Do not be in a hurry, can’t help if our state is not ready. Look at what is happening in Nagaland and other states that have recently declared their medical colleges, immediately their citizens will not be able to avail those sponsored seats from the Government of India. Immediately for a period of five years you will not have medical students going from government quotas any longer from states where they have recently started this,” Lyngdoh said while adding “I for one believe that we will declare the medical colleges when we are hundred per cent sure that they are going to work.”
Pointing out that two projects have been identified for the people of the state, the minister said, “We may have taken time, there are many challenges and I feel if we are not ready yet, this is what we should do and this is what we should accept and wait for the state to be ready because you have to look at faculty, requirements of other facilities, logistics, travel time for faculty, students and so many important components that are there in this project. We want to tell the people of the state, we will give you a university, we will make sure medical college is an important thing and at the same time it is a commitment that should be workable, we have to ensure that it works.”