The State government has finally agreed to set up three medical colleges in the State, one each at Shillong, Tura and Ri-Bhoi.
Finalising the roadmap for the immediate procedure starting of the three medical colleges, the State cabinet which met here today also constituted a committee to come up with proposals on how the colleges will be set up and run.
For the Shillong Medical College, the Health Department is exploring to leverage the existing resources like Shillong Civil Hospital, Ganesh Das Maternity and Child Health Hospital and existing human resources like specialist doctors and others who can potentially become faculty members of the medical college.
On Tura Medical College which is already in the pipeline, the cabinet has entrusted the Health Department to finalise the function of the medical college including human resources. The State government is also exploring to tie up with reputed medical institutions to run the medical college on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
The third medical college, the P A Sangma International Medical College in Ri-Bhoi District, is a private initiative by University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM).
The USTM has come up with a mutually-beneficial proposal where it is offering free and concessional medical seats to the students of the State. It has also requested financial assistance through repayable loans which the government is working out on a Swiss Challenge mode.
Further, the cabinet approved the establishment of the Meghalaya Medical Services Recruitment Board (MMSRB) as a permanent institution entrusted with the responsibility of recruiting Allopathy doctors, AYUSH physicians, dental surgeons and nurses.
