Cabinet to meet soon to form regulatory body for pvt medical colleges
Shillong, Oct 23: The state government on Thursday passed an ordinance to regulate private medical colleges with a view to facilitate admission in the state’s first private medical college at University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM).
The Meghalaya Private Medical Institution (regulation of admission, fixation of fees and reservation) Ordinance, 2024 was approved in a cabinet meeting held at Resubelpara in North Garo Hills district.
The ordinance will come into force following approval from Governor CH Vijayashankar. Later, the ordinance would be then tabled in the assembly during the next session.
The government took the ordinance route in this regard so as not to miss the 2024-25 academic session of the PA Sangma International Medical College (PIMC) set up by University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM).
The PIMC, which has already got the approval for 150 MBBS seats from National Medical Commission (NMC), will operate soon after signing of the ordinance by the governor, according to an official statement.
Earlier, USTM had announced that it would reserve 40 seats for the students of Meghalaya. The ordinance is essential to provide a legal framework for the institute’s operations, addressing previous judicial concerns.
The cabinet headed by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma also cleared the Meghalaya Medical College Regulation and Admission into MBBS course, 2024.
The cabinet will meet again to constitute a regulatory committee which will be responsible for fixation of fees, implementation of reservation policy and allotment of seats as per government norms.
Several court rulings necessitate legislation for reservation of seats in medical colleges, so the ordinance was approved. This ordinance would also ensure that students from Meghalaya would get concession in terms of fee in the institute.
Meanwhile, Meghalaya was unable to establish a medical college since its statehood over 50 years ago. Efforts to set up a government medical college have run into obstacles in the past.
Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh earlier said Shillong Medical College would begin its academic session in 2025-26 and Tura Medical College in 2026-27.
