Pradyut Bordoloi speaks at the open session on Tuesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Dibrugarh, Nov. 3: Power and industry minister Pradyut Bordoloi has pledged to take up the cudgels to help solve the myriad problems of the region’s oldest medical education institution — Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) — at the earliest.

Bordoloi made this promise while addressing the AMCH fraternity during the open session of the 63rd foundation day of the medical college held here at the Berry White auditorium on the premises of the institution this morning.

“Let me assure you that the Assam government has always been generous towards the development of the AMCH and will continue to be so. As for the shortage in faculty and other staff positions, I will personally take up the case with the government,” the minister said.

“AMCH has a glorious history spread over more than six decades now and we all will have to ensure that the glory and sanctity of the institution remains intact. Carry on with the good initiatives and the government will definitely do its bit,” Bordoloi said.

Although the state government had made some appointments, there are still more than 50 posts of teachers lying vacant at the medical college.

Moreover, an alleged move by the state government to transfer some of the existing teachers from the institution to the newly established Jorhat Medical College has earned the wrath of the AMCH fraternity as well as various organisations here.

Earlier, T.R. Borborah, the principal and chief superintendent of AMCH, while presenting a detailed annual report of the medical college, mentioned about some positive developments which had taken place recently.

“I am glad to announce that the Centre had sanctioned a sum of Rs 6.5 crore to set up a genetic laboratory and virology lab in our medical college. This will be the first of its kind in the entire Northeast in the government sector. From now on, we will not have to solely depend upon the Lahowal-based Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to test samples of diseases like swine flu,” Borborah said.

“We will also have a new 300-bed mother and child care unit to take the burden off the gynaecology department, which had become overburdened because of schemes like Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) that had increased cases of institutional deliveries manifold,” he said.

Borborah also announced that a new 33-kv electric sub-station is coming up soon on the institution’s campus which will ensure uninterrupted supply of power to run the operation theatres, ICUs and ICCUs and wards of the medical college.

Dibrugarh University vice-chancellor K.K. Deka, director of IIT Guwahati Gautam Baruah and retired octogenarian gynaecologist Bhabani Prasad Chaliha were also present at the session as guests.