Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed confidence that the young graduates and diploma holders would uphold the noble traditions of the medical profession and serve humanity with compassion, kindness and empathy. He said this today while attending the 4th convocation ceremony of Srimanta Sankaradeva University of Health Sciences (SSUHS), held at the Jyoti-Bishnu Antarjatik Kala Mandir, Khanapara, in the presence of Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan and Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya.
Speaking at the convocation, the Chief Minister, who is also the Chancellor of SSUHS, welcomed the Vice-President and extended his heartfelt congratulations to the graduating students, their parents and teachers.
Underlining the transformation of Assam’s medical education landscape, the Chief Minister said that the State had only three medical colleges during the first five decades after Independence, whereas it now has 14 operational medical colleges. He said that the construction of nine additional medical colleges is underway at Charaideo, Biswanath Chariali, Golaghat, Morigaon, Tamulpur, Dhemaji, Sivasagar, Sribhumi and Goalpara, while the process of establishing new medical colleges has also been initiated in Bajali, Hailakandi, Hojai and Majuli.
CM Dr Sarma said that the 14 existing medical colleges currently offer a total of 1,875 MBBS seats. With the recent approval of Bongaigaon Medical College and counting the ESIC Medical College in Guwahati under the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, Assam now has 16 medical colleges, taking the total number of MBBS seats in the state to over 2,000.
The Chief Minister said the expansion of medical education has been accompanied by significant improvements in the state’s public healthcare system. He said that maternal and neonatal mortality rates have declined considerably, while institutional deliveries have increased to 98 per cent and child immunisation coverage has crossed 95 per cent.
Highlighting Assam’s pioneering efforts in cancer care, the CM said that 17 cancer hospitals are being established at a cost of approximately Rs. 3,700 crore under the Assam Cancer Care Foundation, with the support of Tata Trusts. Of these, 12 hospitals are already providing services to the people. He further stated that a state-of-the-art Proton Beam Therapy Centre would be established at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital at an estimated cost of Rs. 600 crore. The facility, he said, would be the first such proton beam therapy centre in the public sector in India, significantly strengthening Assam’s capacity to provide advanced cancer treatment.
Earlier today, the Chief Minister attended the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Geetanagar College at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in the presence of Vice-President of India C. P. Radhakrishnan and Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya. On this historic occasion, the newly constructed academic building of the college, built under the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA), was also dedicated to the service of the students.
The Chief Minister said that women have been revered and honoured throughout the ages in India’s Sanatan civilisation. With the objective of empowering women through the light of education, the institution was established in 1977 as Kanya Mahavidyalaya. Subsequently the institution has been renamed as Geetanagar College. Since then the institution has crossed five glorious decades and established a distinct identity for itself in the educational landscape of Assam.
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