GUWAHATI: Guwahati, the gateway to the Northeast, will get its second medical college.
The first -- Guwahati Medical College and Hospital -- was established in 1960 to cater to the needs of the people of Assam as well as the neighbouring states.
The state government on Friday inked a memorandum of understanding with Bright Star Investments Pvt. Ltd for the second medical college in Guwahati. The Mumbai-based company will contribute Rs 150 crore for infrastructure development of the academic block, undergraduate and intern hostels.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called upon the corporate sector to provide more opportunities to Indian students in the field of medical education and it was heartening the Bright Star Investments Pvt. Ltd chose Assam as the first state to start the collaboration.
He said the state's population as well as students aspiring to pursue medical education had grown manifold since the establishment of the first medical college in Guwahati.
"Considering the ever-growing demand, the government took several steps for augmenting opportunities for medical education and advanced healthcare facilities by setting up medical colleges at different parts of the state. However, a second medical college at Guwahati, the nerve centre of Northeast’s economic and social activities, was a long-felt need," Sarma said.
He said the new facility would have annual intake of 100 MBBS students.
Assam has seven existing medical colleges and the government has taken steps for the setting up of 15 others. With the increase in medical colleges, the number of MBBS seats also increased from 726 in 2014 to 1,200 this year.
Similarly, the total number of post-graduate seats increased from 395 in 2014 to 711 this year.
"The availability of doctors has improved significantly. Forty-four super-specialty seats are now available in various institutions under the state government. When the construction of the proposed medical colleges gets completed, we will have 2,700 MBBS seats which will significantly enhance the opportunity for medical education in the state," Sarma said.