Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha questions Govt. about the Medical College in Karimganj; “Start at Civil Hospital,” he urges

The Budget Session of the 15th Assam Assembly for 2021-22 commenced on Monday, July 12 in Guwahati. The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government will present its first budget on 16th July. Today on the Assembly session, North Karimganj MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha has raised the issue of the establishment of a Medical College in Karimganj that was assured many years ago. Bringing to notice about the previous annual budgets where a medical college in Karimganj district was promised, the Congress MLA kept on stressing the fact that while the construction work of the other medical colleges in Assam are underway, the plan of a medical college in Karimganj is yet to come to fruition.

The Congress MLA said that it was under the leadership of former Chief Minister of Assam late Tarun Gogoi that the decision to establish another state-run medical College in Barak Valley at Karimganj district was taken. Incumbent Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma was then the Health Minister of Assam. “Whereas the construction work of the other four medical colleges in the state is underway, in case of the promised Medical College in Karimganj, the project is yet to get initiated. In every annual budget of the state in the past few years, there was a mention about the establishment of a medical college in the district of Karimganj, perhaps a few kilometers away from the town. But this project has taken a backseat over the years as people in this valley and especially the district keeps on dying due to lack of health infrastructure or enough resources.”

In the assembly session, he also stated that although it was mentioned in the earlier annual budgets regarding the establishment of a medical college in Karimganj, for that project, a suitable piece of land is yet to be ascertained. “In all the previous budgets starting from 2018/19, it was mentioned in each one of them that a medical college would be established in the Karimganj district. But in reality, even the plot of land is yet to decide on which the institution would be set up. And this is not coming from me, this was mentioned by the Additional Secretary to the Government of Assam, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, that ‘No fund has been sanctioned till now’ and ‘land is yet to be selected due to different opinions of various groups’ regarding this project,”  said Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha.

He added, “And this was mentioned in the 2018/19 budget. My appeal is that the plot should be finalised as soon as possible, so that the people of the Karimganj district as well as patients coming from Tripura get access to decent medical infrastructure and don’t feel the need to travel to the other medical college in Silchar which is almost 60 kilometres away from the Karimganj town.”

He also mentioned that when incumbent Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was the Health Minister of Assam, he has visited Karimganj and expressed his view regarding the need for a medical college in Karimganj. But even after getting mentioned in the last three budgets, the project is yet to decide on its destination. “According to the National Medical Commission (NMC), wherever there is a medical college in India, there should be a 300 bedded hospital in the vicinity. For Northeast, the limit is 250 and the Karimganj Civil Hospital already possesses 350 beds. Hence, my appeal is that, for the time being, let the medical college get initiated in the Karimganj Civil Hospital while the project is still underway. Also, my suggestion is that the proposed medical college in Karimganj be established in a place adjacent to the National Highway so that it’s easily accessible to all the parts of the valley.”

Bringing to notice the close proximity of all the other medical colleges in Assam to their respective towns, the North Karimganj MLA suggested that if need be, the government should send a team of experts to select a suitable plot of land for the construction of the proposed medical college in a spot in the Karimganj district. “When the engineering college was set up in Karimganj back in 2011, a team of experts was sent by the then government to survey and find a suitable plot of land for the institution. My appeal is that in case of the proposed medical college, such a team of experts should be sent so that they find a feasible plot of land for the construction of the medical college which has been pending for years now due to various reasons”, said Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha in the assembly session.