Prof. (Dr.) Dharmakanta Kumbhakar
(The writer can be reached at drkdharmakanta@yahoo.com)
The people of Guwahati take immense pride and satisfaction in the establishment of Pragjyotishpur Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), the city’s second medical college and Assam’s 14th government-run institution of its kind. Its arrival marks a significant boost to the state’s medical education and healthcare infrastructure, addressing a long-standing demand for expanded facilities to serve Guwahati and its surrounding areas.
For years, Guwahati and nearby areas have grappled with mounting health challenges – rapid population growth, rising accidents, pollution-related diseases, vector-borne infections, and lifestyle disorders like diabetes and hypertension. The need for another medical college in the city was pressing, not only to provide advanced and affordable care but also to reduce the patient load on Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and to create more opportunities for skilled medical professionals in the region.
Recognising this, the state government laid the foundation of PMCH on February 14, 2022, on a 62-bigha site. The Bhumi Pujan and foundation stone-laying ceremony of the PMCH were done by Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on that day.Over the next three years, construction advanced rapidly, with modern hospital blocks, academic and administrative buildings, hostels, and other facilities nearing completion by early 2025. Recruitment of faculty, nurses, and staff followed soon after. Outpatient services at the Kalapahar campus were inaugurated by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on February 1, 2025, with indoor services starting shortly afterward. Simultaneously, PMCH faculty continued outpatient and inpatient care at the attached Dhirenpara FRU.
It is really a challenging task to convert the concrete buildings to a medical college, which is a temple of medical education and a caring home for the ailing community. The toughest test for the PMCH was the National Medical Commission (NMC) inspection and permission. The NMC conducted the inspection of PMCH on June 26, 2025, and subsequently granted permission to admit 50 students to the MBBS course for the 2025-26 session. Officially associated with Srimanta Sankaradeva University of Health Sciences, PMCH is now set to begin its academic journey, with admissions overseen by the Directorate of Medical Education, Assam. Now onwards, PMCH will help students from Assam to get MBBS degrees at their convenience with 50 seats every year. In time, authorities hope to expand the intake and eventually transform PMCH into a postgraduate institution producing specialist doctors. The college anthem of PMCH is yet to be decided upon by the authority. Prompt action is needed in this regard.
PMCH has set its motto as ‘excellence in medical education, research, and patient care’. Its vision includes providing world-class medical teaching that can be transformed into the best healthcare practices to meet the needs of the community, fostering high-quality research to bring out the innovations in healthcare, and offering patient-centred advanced care for the sick through modern hospital facilities. The faculty members and administrators of PMCH will dedicate their services for the overall growth and development of this institution, though they will face many problems at the fledgling stage. Some major problems that the faculties will face at PMCH are shortages of accommodation for faculties and doctors, guest houses, auditoriums, recreation facilities, utility buildings, examination hall complexes and playgrounds. One hope, still the faculties of PMCH with available infrastructure will try to offer students not only quality medical education but also a holistic environment for sports, culture, literature and extracurricular growth and best of healthcare services to the patients.
The hospital section of Pragjyotishpur Medical College will provide quality healthcare services to the people of Guwahati and nearby areas, several districts of Assam and parts of neighbouring states with modern healthcare facilities. The 505-bed Kalapahar campus is already equipped with modern equipments, ICUs, NICUs, operation theatres, emergency operation theatres, emergency complex with triage area, observation ward, laboratory, blood centre, mortuary, advanced imaging systems like CT and MRI, and other critical infrastructure. As per previous information, the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital, Panbazar campus of PMCH, will add 800 beds, 100 ICUs, state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities, a dialysis unit, and 11 operation theatres, among others.
However, PMCH will go through some teething troubles as it is a new institution. A shortage of resident doctors – considered the backbone of any teaching hospital – will be keenly felt until the first batch of students graduates in four-and-a-half years. Postgraduate programmes, once launched, will address the issue permanently. Meanwhile, the government is expected to step in with interim staffing support.
Patient numbers at PMCH are rising steadily, pointing to the eventual need for super-speciality services in cardiology, nephrology, neurology, haematology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, urology, and plastic surgery. With proper government support in manpower, infrastructure, and funding, these facilities are expected to materialise in due course.
With well-equipped facilities, specialised departments, and outreach programmes, PMCH is expected to enhance healthcare accessibility to fellow citizens. With time and necessary help from the government, the PMCH has the potential to emerge as one of Assam’s premier centres of medical education and healthcare. It promises not only to produce generations of doctors but also to deliver advanced, accessible, and affordable care to the people of Guwahati, Assam, and neighbouring states. Hope the people of Assam will soon be fortunate enough to see advanced medical education and modern health care services in this new medical college.