Shillong: Tura Medical College remains stuck in limbo. Health Minister Wailadmiki Shylla told the Assembly that the state cannot set a start date for the first MBBS session. The project currently lacks 57 faculty members out of the 97 required by the National Medical Commission. Only 40 staff are on board for the 50-seat institution.
The vacancy list covers 11 professors, 17 associate professors, nine assistant professors, five tutors or demonstrators, and 15 senior residents. Authorities formed a Manpower Assessment Committee on August 21, 2025. They approved 59 contractual teaching posts and ran three rounds of job ads in national and local media. They also consulted in-service doctors across Garo Hills, but the roster remains thin.
Sanctioned in 2017-18 for Rs 189 crore, the project is 83 percent complete. The central government provided Rs 170.10 crore. Construction progress sits at 80 percent for the academic block and 78 percent for hostels. Residential buildings range from 40 to 99 percent completion. The 80-bed and 150-bed hospital wings are only 25 to 50 percent finished.
Shylla noted that past delays stemmed from land disputes, 2019 forest clearances, COVID-19, and local protests. NMC standards for 50 seats demand 220 beds, four major operation theaters, and 400 daily OPD patients. Tura Civil Hospital and Tura MCH Hospital are currently listed for teaching readiness. The minister said the government remains committed to the project and intends to launch it "as soon as faculty, academic, clinical and regulatory requirements are met."
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