Shillong, May 11: Tura Medical College (TMC) should be able to offer courses by the next academic year but it all depends on whether the state is able to attract enough faculty, Health and Family Welfare Minister Wailadmiki Shylla stated today.
In expectation that hiring suitably qualified staff for the TMC would be a challenge, the state government had initially planned on running the college on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode but this was opposed by civil society organisations, pressure groups and opposition politicians, so the state backed down and reversed course.
Shylla said that for the state-run Shillong Medical College (SMC), which has 50 students, it was difficult enough to get faculty but it is more so for the TMC, which will have 150 students.
Advertisements have been floated for posts and the government hopes to start courses in the next academic year. “Whether we will have the number (of staff) or not, then only we will be able to say. But the government is committed to operationalise it by the next session,” the minister added.
The SMC, meanwhile, began its first sessions last year. So far, however, it is making do by operating from existing medical infrastructure in Shillong, such as the Pasteur Institute in Lawmali.
Shylla said he had met Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on the subject in the last few days and had been told that SMC infrastructure will probably be built in a phase-wise manner. “Since it is a brownfield project, a lot of infrastructure is needed. But right now for the first year we are quite okay,” Shylla said, adding that the CM has instructed that the detailed project reports (DPRs) be prepared.
The minister also expressed thanks to the Lady Kerr Welfare Centre, popularly known as Red Cross Hospital, for agreeing to give up its site in order to allow for an expansion of Shillong Civil Hospital, which also houses the SMC.
The Lady Kerr Welfare Centre will move locations and the government is working on the process.
