Shillong, June 19: Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said the government is having many ideas as to how to go about with the Shillong medical college.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Lyngdoh said that the ideas will be placed before the cabinet.
“Certain ideas are now being mooted. There are two versions of these ideas. One is a complete PPP model which anyway we can engage with private parties or the other as to whether or not it is possible to also initiate some sort of a coordination between available services of the government within either the city of Shillong or some places near the city of Shillong whether or not we can have a medical college that will utilize the Shillong civil hospital, Ganesh Das hospital, the Reid Chest hospital, whether or not we can convert these institutions into learning institutions where a medical college can actually emerged out of the availability facilities that we have in the state. That is one thing”, Ampareen said.
Another idea
She said the department is also looking at the idea of partnering with universities and most probably within the Ri Bhoi district for the medical college.
“We are also looking at the idea of partnering with the university that is already functioning well in Meghalaya likely within the Ri Bhoi district where there are many private universities that are already functioning whether or not anyone of these universities can partner with us on a PPP mode. That is as far as the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region is concerned,” she said.
These ideas come after the then Congress government signed an MoU with KPC group in 2012 to construct the medical college in Shillong. After five years in December, 2017, the foundation stone was laid on the premises of Reid Chest hospital, Mawbah by the then Chief Minister Mukul Sangma in the presence of Ampareen who was the PWD (Building) Minister then (in picture).
Later in 2018, when the new government came under the leadership of Conrad Sangma, the construction site was shifted to New Shilong Township and the government scrapped the MoU with KPC group.
The government is yet to decide on the new site for the construction of the medical college.
Ampareen said she had an interaction with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who spoke about Assam model which uses every medical facility in different districts and upgrade them to medical colleges as they already covered a lot of the norms that are required for a fully functional medical college.
According to Ampareen, if Assam can do, Meghalaya too can follow the pattern.
Tura medical college
Ampareen said work is in progress as far as Tura medical college is concerned.
108 emergency service
Ampareen said the department will float the expression of interest (EOI) for inviting interested parties to run the emergency medical services in the state.
“The Expression of Interest is now being currently prepared and will likely be floated at an earliest time possible,” Ampareen said.
The emergency medical services have been taken over by the National Health Mission (NHM) after termination of the contract with the GVK EMRI 108. However, the NHM is not a professional organisation that is equipped or has the expertise to run the 108 services in the state of Meghalaya, she added.
