Assam CM Sarma inaugurates Bongaigaon Medical College & Hospital

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated the Bongaigaon Medical College and Hospital, the 17th in the state. This is part of a Rs 711 crore development push, which also included the virtual inauguration of a school and other infrastructure projects.

Continuing the State Government’s development initiatives across Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma formally inaugurated Bongaigaon Medical College and Hospital. With this, the number of medical colleges and hospitals in the State has increased to 17. According to a release, the Chief Minister on Monday also inaugurated the Bongaigaon Integrated District Commissioner’s Office. Later, from the meeting venue at Majgaon in Bongaigaon, he virtually inaugurated a Model Residential School at Kacharipara in Abhayapuri, upgraded infrastructure of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Adarsha College at Tulungia, upgraded infrastructure of Sri Sri Raghunath Bigraha Mandir Satra at Srijangram and a Model Secondary School at Birjhara Tea Estate. He also virtually unveiled a statue of Maharaj Naranarayan at Bongaigaon Bisarjan Ghat.

Details of a Rs 711 Crore Development Push

The projects inaugurated by the Chief Minister today, including the medical college, involve a total expenditure of around Rs 711 crore. The Bongaigaon Medical College and Hospital has been constructed at a cost of around Rs. 611 crore on 151 bighas of land. The institution has a 430-bed hospital, an academic block, hostels for students and nurses and other supporting infrastructure. The Bongaigaon Integrated District Commissioner’s Office has been constructed on 24 bighas of land at a cost of around Rs 50 crore. The Model Residential School has been constructed at a cost of Rs 30 crore, while the Model Secondary School has been built at a cost of Rs 3 crore. The infrastructure of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Adarsha College has been upgraded at a cost of Rs 11 crore. The statue of Maharaj Naranarayan at Bongaigaon Bisarjan Ghat has been installed at a cost of Rs 34 lakh.

Transforming Medical Education in Assam

Addressing a public meeting at Majgaon in Bongaigaon, Chief Minister Sarma said that for nearly 60 years after Independence, Assam had only three medical colleges. Recalling his first tenure as a Minister in the Assam Government in 2001, he said that despite travelling to different parts of the State, he had never received a request for the establishment of a new medical college. Subsequently, the State Government established medical colleges in Jorhat, Tezpur and Barpeta.

Sarma said that after the BJP-led government came to power in Assam in 2016, a plan was adopted to establish a medical college in every district of the State in phases. Bongaigaon Medical College is a result of this initiative. He said that construction of medical colleges is currently underway at Charaideo, Biswanath Chariali, Golaghat, Morigaon, Tamulpur, Dhemaji, Sivasagar, Sribhumi and Goalpara. In addition, the State Government has taken an in-principle decision to establish medical colleges in Bajali, Hailakandi, Hojai and Majuli in phases.

The Chief Minister said that the increase in the number of medical colleges has taken the total number of MBBS seats in the State to more than 2,000. Referring to the commitment made during the last Assembly election to establish a university, a medical college and an engineering college in every district, he said that Bongaigaon College has already been upgraded into a university and the people of the area will soon have an engineering college as well.

“Bongaigaon will transform into a full-fledged district from the perspective of modern education, with a university, medical college and engineering college. Very few districts in the country have all three higher education institutions. Over the last five years, the construction of roads, a convention centre, a stadium and other infrastructure under Asom Mala has transformed Bongaigaon into a modern city,” the Chief Minister said.

The Chief Minister said the State Government has been making continuous efforts for the development of Bongaigaon. Several decisions have already been taken to transform Bongaigaon University into a full-fledged university and Rs 100 crore will be provided for the development of infrastructure at the higher education institution. He also said that the State Government has taken special measures to preserve the memory of great personalities who have contributed to the social life of Assam. Following the installation of a statue of Mahabir Lachit Barphukan at Hollongapar in Jorhat, the Government has also decided to construct a statue of Bir Chilarai in Bongaigaon with a height of more than 100 feet.

CM's Address to Bongaigaon Medical College Students

Earlier, after formally inaugurating Bongaigaon Medical College and Hospital, the Chief Minister addressed the students enrolled at the institution. Sarma said that when he first became the State’s Health Minister in 2006, only 250 students from Assam could enrol in the MBBS courses offered by the three medical colleges in Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Silchar. As a result, a large number of students had to go outside the State to study medicine.

He said that as a result of initiatives taken to expand medical education in Assam, the number of medical colleges in the State has now increased to 17, including AIIMS Guwahati and the ESIC Medical College. He said that, on average, two new medical colleges would become operational every year over the next five years and the total number of medical colleges in Assam would reach 30 by 2032. He added that there was also scope for private medical colleges to come up in the State during this period.

The Chief Minister said that this expansion would reduce the need for students from Assam who wish to study medicine to seek admission outside the State. He stressed that alongside increasing the number of medical college seats, equal emphasis must be placed on producing quality doctors.

Sarma said students would need special skills to emerge as good doctors after completing their studies. These skills would be reflected in their ability to understand patients’ problems accurately and provide appropriate diagnoses. He said that by the time the students enrolled at Bongaigaon Medical College complete their education, the medical education landscape in the State would have undergone a major transformation, with 3,000 to 5,000 new doctors joining the State every year. This, he said, would give patients greater choice in selecting a doctor suited to their needs.

He said every patient provides a doctor with a new experience in diagnosing and treating an illness. He therefore urged the students to focus deeply on their studies and, in the later stages of their careers, develop the habit of thoroughly analysing the health-related concerns of every patient who comes to them for treatment.

A Timeline of Bongaigaon's Development

The Chief Minister also said that, except for the medical colleges in Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Silchar, he had been associated with the process of establishing every medical college in the State from the initial stage to its inauguration. It may be recalled that during the previous tenure of the Government led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, foundation stones were laid and projects were inaugurated worth around Rs. 1,500 crore in Bongaigaon to give fresh impetus to the district’s development. The Chief Minister had laid foundation stones and inaugurated projects worth around Rs. 700 crore in the district in 2022, Rs 555 crore on July 27, 2023 and Rs 171 crore on March 5, 2024.

The foundation stones for Bongaigaon Medical College and Hospital, the Integrated District Commissioner’s Office and the statue of Maharaj Naranarayan, inaugurated by the Chief Minister today, were laid during the Bikashor Pakhwa programme in 2022. The foundation stone for Sri Sri Raghunath Bigraha Mandir Satra project at Abhayapuri was laid on July 27, 2023.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Ashok Singhal, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Keshab Mahanta, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Ashwini Ray Sarkar, MP Phani Bhushan Choudhury, MLA Diptimayee Choudhury and MLA Bhupen Roy, along with several other dignitaries, faculty members and students of Bongaigaon Medical College and Hospital, were present at the inauguration ceremony. (ANI)

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