Shillong, Sept 3:The Shillong Medical College (SMC) will start functioning from September 26.
Briefing reporters on Wednesday, Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said 50 seats will be allocated to Shillong Medical College, out of which 85 percent will be for the state students and the remaining 15 percent will be for all-India students.
The annual fees per student will be Rs 30,000.
Ampareen said the Chief Minister is trying to invite the Prime Minister to inaugurate the first medical college.
Lyngdoh said, “Today is a very joyful for the department of health as well as the government of Meghalaya because we have received the letter of permission sanctioned and notified by the NMC listing the SMC as one of the colleges that have been approved for functioning from this year’s session of 2025-26 with an intake capacity 50 students.”
“We are now prepared for the start of this session. We are scheduled to start by around September last week. This is an all-India schedule for all NEET qualified students. We are also pleased to inform the candidates who have a wish and are qualified to apply for these MBBS seats as per the sanction of the government of Meghalaya alongside with the counselling of the SMC,” she said.
The second round of counselling for MBBS seats is scheduled to start from September 26. The counselling process will include all medical seats allotted by the government of India for the state of Meghalaya.
With this development, Meghalaya now has a total of 144 MBBS seats, including 50 at SMC and 94 allotted to various institutions outside the state, such as NEIGRIHMS and RIIMS.
“The total number of seats for the SMC stands at 50. However, we are also happy to inform you that Meghalaya continues to get its quota from the pool of government’s sanction. There are 94 seats allotted to the state of Meghalaya into various institutions inclusive of institutions like NEIGRIHMS, RIIMS, Imphal,” Lyngdoh said.
According to Ampareen, this will be a big game changer for Meghalaya.
The health minister said, “Our students today wish to study and pursue a career in MBBS have a better option. Yes, most importantly our students will be totally bounded to function within the state of Meghalaya thereby automatically attending to this acute shortage of doctors in our government facilities across the state.”
Lyngdoh said the SMC is a brown field project and will utilise existing hospitals, Shillong Civil Hospital and Ganesh Das Hospital, as teaching hospitals, eliminating the need for a new hospital infrastructure.
The college plans to introduce specialization courses in the future, providing career progression opportunities for doctors in government service.
Lyngdoh expressed confidence in the college’s ability to provide quality medical education, stating that while it may take time to achieve top grading, SMC is committed to ensuring excellence in teaching and patient care.
“It would be pre-emptive to believe that we would not have state-of-the-art teaching facilities. There is no doubt that it will take time for the SMC to get the necessary grading in the all-India pattern but you cannot also presume that we will not be one of the best. The journey is just starting now and we are confident that we will be able to ensure quality, ensure excellence in our bit to teach.”
Shortage of staff
As the SMC will start with partial faculty, Lyngdoh said there are 8 out of 16 professors required, 17 out of 20 associate professors 21 out of 23 senior residents and 12 out of 15 tutor and demonstrators
However, all 25 assistant professors required are in position.
The minister attributed the shortage to the challenges of attracting professors to a remote state like Meghalaya, emphasising the need for competitive salaries and facilities.
“However, we are now going to strengthen this entire remaining shortfall. For a state as remote as Meghalaya, fortunately Shillong is not as remote, it is difficult to make all these posts available because we have to have a competitive scale of salary, and a competitive facility for professors. So, professors will only come if it is suitable for then,” she said.
“Hence to bring them(faculty)across has been one of the greatest challenges which is why we are so grateful to the team of officers and the intervention of the chief minister who make sure that we had the necessary essential teaching faculties at the first instance.”
Dr Nicola first director
The minister also introduced Dr. Nicola Gracyl Lyngdoh Iangrai, an experienced ENT surgeon from RIIMS, as the director of Shillong Medical College. Dr Iangrai expressed her willingness to serve the state and contribute to the medical college’s success.
Other seats will not be withdrawn
The minister reassured that the medical seats allotted by the government of India would not be suddenly withdrawn, although some seats might be part of the state’s quota.
Tura Medical College
When asked, the minister clarified that Tura Medical College is a separate project, a greenfield initiative that requires building new infrastructure, unlike SMC, which is a brownfield project utilising existing hospitals.
