Shillong, Sept. 6: Meghalaya, which has not been able to set up a medical college even after 45 years of statehood, is supposed to have three, but there is not much hope that even one college will come up soon.

Meghalaya had planned to set up two medical colleges since 2010 - one government-run and another under public-private partnership (PPP) mode - but not much progress has been made.

According to officials in state health and family welfare department, though the two proposed medical colleges are still in the process of being set up, the state government has proposed yet another here.

With Assam abolishing 10 medical seats reserved for Meghalaya students, the failure of the hill state to establish its own medical colleges to cater to the growing demand has affected the career of many aspiring students.

In 1976, four years after Meghalaya was created, the Assam government agreed to reserve for Meghalaya four MBBS seats in Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, three seats in the GMCH and two seats in Silchar Medical College. The number of seats at the GMCH in the subsequent years was raised to four, taking the total reserved seats for Meghalaya to 10 per year.

In 2010, the Congress-led government decided to set up two medical colleges, one in Tura and another here.

On June 21, 2012, the Meghalaya cabinet approved the proposal to lease out land for 99 years to Calcutta-based KPC Group, a company headed by Kali Pradip Chaudhari, who also received a contract for setting up of Shillong Medical College under PPP mode at Mawprem here.

On November 2, 2012, the state government inked an agreement with the group for setting up of a 500-bedded hospital-cum-medical college at Rs 248 crore. Out of 100 seats, 40 would be reserved for local students.

But the Mukul Sangma-led government was asked to cancel the agreement it had inked with the 'controversial' KPC Group because of its alleged dubious backgrounds.

Opposition legislators had earlier raised the issue in the Assembly alleging that KPC has more than 20 law suits registered against it in the US for fraud and cheating.

For setting up of the medical college in Tura, an official said the Centre has agreed to sanction Rs 189 crore, of which 10 per cent of the cost would be borne by the state government. The medical college with 100 seats was proposed to be established on a 100-acre land at Doldegre, 8km from Tura, but the government is yet to solve problems related to alleged land encroachment.