Assam opens 8th medical college; NMC approves 100 seats – Times of India

Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to Twitter to share the news. He termed it a major milestone for Assam. “A matter of great personal pride as I see this 8th College, I dreamt of, taking shape. Now, we’ve 1100 #MBBS seats for our children,” Sarma tweeted.

Sarma, as health minister earlier, was associated with the establishment of five medical colleges in the state. “The eighth medical college in Assam got official recognition today,” he said.

Medical education got a major lift in Assam when the MBBS course was officially inaugurated at the Diphu Medical College (DMC) in Karbi Anglong in February, taking the total number of MBBS seats in the state to 1,000. From 364 seats in 2006, the increase has been significant, though private medical colleges have not yet come up in Assam.

NEET results are being awaited and the enhanced intake capacity has come as a big relief for the medical aspirants who cannot afford to get enrolled in private medical colleges outside the state due to the high cost involved.

In Assam, as per the distribution of seats, the highest 200 seats each are allotted to Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati, and Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh. In Silchar Medical College, Jorhat Medical College, Barpeta Medical College, and Tezpur Medical College, 125 seats are available in each. In Diphu Medical College, the intake capacity is 100.

“For the 2021-22 academic session, which is starting soon, we will enroll students in all the 1,100 seats. A total of 85% of these seats will be filled up from the state quota and so it’s a big gain for the medical aspirants who are residents of Assam,” said Assam director of medical education, Anup Kumar Barman.

He informed that the construction of two other medical colleges in Dhubri and Nalbari are in advanced stages and are likely to be commissioned next year. “Our effort is to add a total of 200 more MBBS seats in Dhubri and Nalbari medical colleges. So the intake capacity of the state’s medical colleges may go up to 1,300 from the next academic session,” Barman added.