Bhupen Goswami
GUWAHATI : True to its commitment to bring about paradigm shift in imparting medical education, Government of Assam in presence of Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma entered into an MoU for the infrastructure development of academic block of the second medical college of Guwahati with Bright Star Investments Pvt. Ltd. at a function held at Janata Bhawan here today.
It may be noted that Commissioner and Secretary to the government of Assam Siddharth Singh and Promoter & Founder of Bright Star Investments Pvt. Ltd. Radhakishnan Damani singed the MoU. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Dr. Sarma termed the occasion historic. The signing of MoU between the Government of Assam and Bright Star Investments Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai will herald a new beginning in Assam’s medical education. It is for the first time that Assam government has collaborated with the private sector for building infrastructure of a medical college in the state. The Chief Minister, therefore, thanked Radhakishan Damani, the founder of Bright Star Investments Pvt. Ltd., for coming forward with this remarkable philanthropic gesture. He said that showing its social commitments, Bright Star Investments Pvt. LTD. has come forth to support the cause of medical education in Assam.
Dr. Sarma also said, “It is indeed a matter of pride and joy that responding to the call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the corporate sector for providing more opportunities to Indian students in the field of medical education, Bright Star Investments Pvt. Ltd. has chosen Assam as the first state to start the noble collaboration”. He, therefore, thanked Radhakishnan Damani and everybody associated with this company for this philanthropic activity. The Chief Minister said that almost six decades ago in the year 1960, the first medical college at Guwahati was established to cater to the needs of the people of the state as well the neighbouring states. Since then, population in the state has grown manifold so does the number of students aspiring to pursue medical education.
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 which is the nerve centre of Northeast’s economic and social activities was a long felt need. Therefore, taking a pragmatic step to address this requirement, Govt of Assam has taken up the task of establishing a second Medical College in Guwahati with the provision of 1000 bedded hospital and academic block with hostels for boys and girls for 100 annual intake MBBS students. Resultantly Bright Star Investments Pvt Limited has come up with a CSR contribution of Rs 150 crore for infrastructure development of the Academic Block, UG and Intern Hostels of this Medical College. Chief Minister Dr. Sarma also said that State government is working with a vision of one medical college per district in Assam. Already, the government has taken steps for setting up 15 new medical colleges in addition to the nine existing ones. Out of the 15 new medical colleges, seven medical colleges are being constructed at Nalbari, Nagaon, Kokrajhar, Tinsukia, Charaideo, Biswanath Chariali and the second Medical College at Guwahati. The government is going to start construction of five more medical colleges at Golaghat, Bongaigaon, Marigaon, Tamulpur and Dhemaji during this month and work for three more medical colleges proposed at Sivasagar, Karimganj and Goalpara will be taken up very soon. In the next five years Assam will have a total of 24 Medical Colleges, greatly improving the availability of doctors and medical care in the state. The Chief Minister also said that with the increase in medical colleges in the State, number of MBBS seats have also increased from 726 in 2014 to 1200 in 2022. Till 2014 total Post Graduate (PG) seats in Assam was 395. In 2022 the total number of PG seats have increased to 711. The availability of doctors has therefore improved significantly. Similarly, 44 super-specialty seats are now available in various institutions under the Govt of Assam. Moreover, when construction of proposed medical colleges gets completed, the state will have 2700 MBBS seats, thereby significantly enhancing opportunity for medical education in Assam. The Chief Minister exuded confidence that with the signing of MoU launched a new beginning in Assam. He said that in the days ahead more such collaborations will happen giving a major boost to medical education in the state. Minister Health and Family Welfare Keshab Mahanta, Promoter & Founder of Bright Star Investments Pvt. Ltd. Radhakishnan Damani, Head CSR Damani Foundation Madhu Chandak, Principal Secretary Health & Family Welfare Department Avinash Joshi, Commissioner & Secretary Medical Education & Research Siddharth Singh and a host of other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
