Shillong, May 11: Health Minister Wailadmiki Shylla on Monday said the Meghalaya government wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the Shillong Medical College, describing the institution as a major achievement and a long-standing aspiration of the people of the state.
“It is the aspiration of the people of Meghalaya to have its own medical college. It is a big achievement for the state, so we want the Prime Minister to inaugurate it,” Shylla told reporters.
The minister said the Prime Minister had earlier provided two tentative dates for the inauguration, but the visits could not materialise due to unavoidable circumstances.
“No doubt, in the past also on two instances he has given two dates but due to unavoidable circumstances he could not come. So this time again we are waiting for all elections to get over and now again we will approach for the date,” he said.
Shylla said the government hopes to hold the inauguration within this year depending on the Prime Minister’s availability, while noting that first-year classes have already commenced.
Shillong Medical College has received approval for 50 MBBS seats for its first batch after inspection and clearance from the Medical Council.
“The Medical Council came and checked accordingly and gave permission. For now we got permission for 50 students,” the minister stated.
On the proposed Tura Medical College, Shylla said the government had initially planned to establish it under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model because of difficulties in recruiting medical faculty, especially for a college planned with 150 seats.
“As you know, even getting faculty for 50 students is also very challenging. For Tura it is 150, that’s why we had opted for PPP mode,” he said.
However, he said strong public opposition to the PPP model led the government to reconsider its decision.
“With the opposition from people, as they have seen Shillong Medical College has started as a government college, they also want Tura to be a government-run medical college,” Shylla said.
“We tried to explain but people still want it as a government medical college. As we believe it is for the people, we thought we should give it a try and we have decided it will be a government medical college,” he added.
The minister informed that advertisements for recruitment of faculty members and professors for Tura Medical College have already been issued and the government aims to operationalise the institution by next academic session.
He further said multiple tenders have been floated for infrastructure development at Shillong Medical College, including facilities such as playgrounds and other essential infrastructure.
Shylla informed that the department has also invited Expressions of Interest (EOI) for preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for expansion of the medical college infrastructure.
“Chief Minister has assured me to get the DPR as soon as possible. Maybe we cannot do it in one go but we will do it in a phased manner because we need big infrastructure,” he said.
On introducing advanced medical technologies such as robotic surgery, the minister said the immediate focus remains on strengthening infrastructure and providing exposure and training to doctors, professors and students.
“We will allow our professors to go outside and attend conferences and get knowledge on new technology which are coming day by day,” he stated.
Shylla also clarified that all medical colleges are required to be attached to hospitals for practical clinical training and said Shillong Civil Hospital is already functioning as part of the Shillong Medical College system.
“If you go you will see that it is written Shillong Medical College Hospital,” he said.
The minister further informed that the government plans to expand Shillong Civil Hospital and that additional land has been made available by the Indian Red Cross Society Meghalaya State Branch for the project.
“We have already prepared the DPR and very soon we will come out with a tender,” he added.
