The proposed Tura Medical College in Meghalaya is facing a serious faculty shortage, with only 37 teaching staff mapped against the 97 required by the National Medical Commission for an intake of 50 MBBS students, officials said on Thursday. The issue was discussed in detail during a meeting chaired by Health and Family Welfare Commissioner and Secretary Dr Joram Beda, which assessed the college’s readiness for operationalisation.
The Health and Family Welfare Department has been working for more than a year to bridge the gap. Efforts have included identifying eligible in‑service doctors, issuing three rounds of advertisements to recruit teaching staff, and consulting with doctors based in Tura to explore ways to address the shortage of specialists.
Despite these measures, the number of available faculty members remains significantly below the NMC requirement. In light of this, the review meeting recommended that the 150‑bed and 80‑bed hospital blocks currently under construction at the Tura Civil Hospital campus be completed and commissioned for patient care.
The decision is intended to allow the substantial healthcare infrastructure being built in Tura to benefit residents of the Garo Hills region even if the medical college cannot become fully operational immediately. The additional facilities are expected to substantially enhance the overall bed capacity of Tura Civil Hospital, which is envisaged to function as the teaching hospital attached to the proposed medical college.
The department said strengthening the hospital infrastructure would serve both immediate healthcare needs and the longer‑term requirements of the medical college. Senior officials, including directors of health services, medical superintendents of Tura Civil Hospital and Tura MCH Hospital, and members of the Manpower Assessment Committee attended the meeting. Officials are expected to continue efforts to mobilise the required teaching manpower while work on the hospital infrastructure progresses.
