Even though Assam now has 12 medical colleges, only one out of them is providing all sorts of treatment, Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said on Friday.
In response to a query from Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed on the floor of the Assembly, Mahanta said that the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital is the only hospital in the state that offers treatment in all authorised departments.
“In the other 11 medical colleges across the state, treatment is not provided in numerous departments, with the numbers varying from three to 13,” Mahanta said.
The minister said although attempts are being made in that direction, permanent Grade III, IV, and nursing staff have not yet been hired for the recently-opened Nalbari and Kokrajhar Medical College and Hospitals.
In addition to the 12 medical colleges in the state, there are also two ayurveda colleges, where all authorised departments have been established and care is being offered in all of them, he said.
The minister also said that nine or more departments are still to be established in the remaining medical colleges in the state, excluding Gauhati, Dibrugarh, and Silchar.
None of these nine medical colleges have established departments of CTVS, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Haematology, Neurology, Nephrology, Plastic Surgery, Paediatric Surgery, or Urology.
According to Mahanta, there are currently 2,438 doctors employed by the various medical institutes, and 456 more are still required.
In response to a question raised by AIUDF MLA Karim Uddin Barbhuiya, the minister said that development on super-speciality hospitals under JICA is currently proceeding in six medical colleges — Silchar, Jorhat, Barpeta, Tezpur, Diphu, and Lakhimpur.
