Guwahati: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday inaugurated Bongaigaon Medical College and Hospital as part of a Rs 711-crore infrastructure push in the district.The inauguration took Assam’s total number of medical colleges to 17, including AIIMS Guwahati and ESIC Medical College, officials said.The medical college, built on 151 bighas at an estimated cost of Rs 611 crore, has a 430-bed hospital, an academic block and hostels for students and nurses.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. Many aspiring doctors were therefore forced to study outside the state, he added.“As a result of the initiatives taken to expand medical education in Assam, the number of medical colleges in the state has now increased to 17. 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,” Sarma said.He said Assam’s MBBS capacity crossed 2,000 seats, adding that private medical colleges could also come up in the state. Referring to his poll promise to establish a university, medical college and engineering college in every district, Sarma said Bongaigaon College was upgraded to university status, and an engineering college would come up soon.Sarma also inaugurated newly built Bongaigaon Integrated District Commissioner’s Office. The district commissioner’s office, spread across 24 bighas, cost around Rs 50 crore.From Majgaon, he virtually launched a Model Residential School at Kacharipara in Abhayapuri, upgraded facilities at Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Adarsha College in Tulungia, renovated infrastructure at Sri Sri Raghunath Bigraha Mandir Satra in Srijangram and a Model Secondary School at Birjhara Tea Estate.He also virtually unveiled a statue of Maharaj Naranarayan at Bongaigaon Bisarjan Ghat.“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,” Sarma said.
