“We decided to establish one medical college in every district”: Assam CM

Assam has expanded its network of medical colleges from three to 14, with nine more institutions under construction and additional projects planned across the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday, September 6.

Addressing the fourth convocation ceremony of Srimanta Sankaradeva University of Health Sciences (SSUHS) in Guwahati, Sarma said the expansion marked a significant change in the state’s healthcare infrastructure.

He said Assam had only three medical colleges during the first five decades after Independence. According to the Chief Minister, the pace of expansion changed after 2006, when he took charge as the state’s health minister.

“For the first time, we added three medical colleges in Assam,” Sarma said, adding that the state subsequently adopted the objective of establishing a medical college in every district.

Sarma said the expansion was undertaken with the support and interest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Chief Minister said construction of nine additional medical colleges was progressing across the state. The institutions are coming up in Charaideo, Biswanath Chariali, Golaghat, Morigaon, Tamulpur, Dhemaji, Sivasagar, Sribhumi and Goalpara.

He further said administrative approval had been granted for three more medical colleges in Bajali, Hailakandi and Hojai.

Discussions have also begun on establishing a medical college in Majuli, he said.

Sarma said the expansion of medical education infrastructure was part of the broader transformation of the healthcare sector in Assam and placed the state among those that could showcase significant growth in healthcare infrastructure.

The Chief Minister was speaking at the fourth convocation of SSUHS, which oversees health sciences education in the state.