The launch of the first academic session at Tura Medical College in Meghalaya has been delayed because the institution has not secured enough qualified teaching staff, while the state government has shifted its immediate focus to completing hospital infrastructure in Tura for patients in the Garo Hills region.
The medical college is nearly 95% complete, but the state government has not finalised a date for opening its academic programme. Joram Beda, commissioner and secretary of Meghalaya’s health and family welfare department, reviewed the college’s operationalisation status and identified the faculty shortage as the main obstacle.
According to a statement from the health department, only 37 teaching faculty members have been mapped for the institution’s operation as a government medical college. The National Medical Commission requires 97 faculty members for an annual intake of 50 MBBS students, leaving the college 60 positions short of the stated requirement.
The department said it had made repeated efforts over more than a year to address the shortage. These included internal exercises to identify willing and qualified in-service doctors, three rounds of advertisements and consultations with doctors in Tura to tackle the shortage of specialists in the region.
“Despite earnest and sustained efforts” to recruit and identify staff, the initiatives had not produced a favourable outcome, the department said. The shortage has therefore prevented the government from confirming when the college will begin its first academic session.
The staffing problem also affects the functioning of the medical college’s teaching hospital. The health department has recommended completing and commissioning two blocks under construction within the Tura Civil Hospital campus: one with 150 beds and another with 80 beds. Together, the blocks are intended to expand patient-care capacity at the hospital.
The department said completing the facilities would ensure that infrastructure already being created benefits residents of the Garo Hills without delay. It also described the expanded Tura Civil Hospital as the teaching hospital for the medical college, linking the institution’s academic operations to the hospital’s ability to provide patient care and clinical training.
The decision places the immediate emphasis on hospital capacity even as the medical college’s buildings near completion. The state has not announced a revised launch date for the academic session, and the health department’s statement did not specify a new deadline for filling the remaining faculty positions.
For residents of the Garo Hills, the government’s next stated step is the completion and commissioning of the 150-bed and 80-bed blocks at Tura Civil Hospital. The academic launch of Tura Medical College remains dependent on securing the faculty required for its planned intake.
