Assam plans to set up 15 new medical colleges in next five years

The plan is to offer 2,700 MBBS seats for enhancing scope of medical education, says Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma

GUWAHATI

The Assam government plans to have a total of 24 medical colleges in the next five years to improve healthcare and the availability of doctors, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

The State has nine medical colleges and steps have been taken for setting up 15 more. The construction of five of these at Golaghat, Bongaigaon, Marigaon, Tamulpur and Dhemaji is scheduled to start within November.

“When the proposed medical colleges are completed, the State will have 2,700 MBBS seats to significantly enhance the opportunity for medical education,” Mr. Sarma said after inking a deal with a Mumbai-based firm for developing the academic blocks of the second medical college in Guwahati.

The first medical college in the city was built in 1960.

Regarded as the medical hub of the northeast, Guwahati caters to the needs of the people of the neighbouring States besides Assam.

“Since then (1960), the population in the State has grown manifold and so has the number of students aspiring to pursue medical education. A second medical college in Guwahati and elsewhere in Assam has thus been a long-felt need,” the Chief Minister said.