Guwahati, Nov 3: The Assam government is keen to facilitate Assam Medical College (AMC) to transform it into a state-of-the-art research institute responsive to deal with the new-age ailments.
Speaking at the platinum jubilee celebrations of AMC in Dibrugarh on Thursday, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the premier institute needed to upgrade itself into a state-of-the-art medical institute with adequate thrust on research to deal with critical diseases.
The chief minister asked AMC to coordinate with the partnership between state government and IIT Guwahati for high-end medical research.
Paying rich tributes to British philanthropist John Berry White and state’s first chief minister Gopinath Bordoloi for being instrumental in establishing AMC, Sarma said the state government would give Rs 300 crore to AMC for construction of teachers’ quarters and students’ hostels.
Hailing the AMC for maintaining its rich legacy in medical education and treatment, he asked the college management to initiate its growth and development in sync with its green milieu.
“Seventy five years is a long time and during this period, AMC has produced many doctors who are now leaders in their chosen fields of expertise,” he said.
The chief minister urged the vice chancellor of Srimanta Sankardeva University of Health Sciences to institute an award in the name of philanthropist John Berry White with a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh to felicitate the best MBBS graduate in the state.
Apart from releasing a commemorative platinum jubilee postal stamp on the occasion, the chief minister also flagged off the services of nine advanced life support ambulances given by ONGC as part of its corporate social responsibility.
The ambulances will be given to nine medical colleges/hospitals in the state.
Further, acknowledging the dedicated role played by AMC during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarma thanked the AMC fraternity for its unrelenting dedication to save human lives.
“The state government is committed to provide an advanced, accessible and affordable health care delivery system. Therefore, the government has decided to increase the number of medical colleges in the state to 24,” he said.