The construction work for the much-awaited medical college in Tura area of West Garo Hills District will start soon, Health Minister AL Hek told the Assembly on April 20.
 

A proposal for the project, estimated to cost Rs 234.89 crore, has been sent to the finance department for necessary sanctions, Hek said in his reply to a query by Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma during the Question Hour. The cost will be shared by the state and the Centre on the basis of 90:10 ratio and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has already sanctioned Rs 51 crore, he added. The leader of opposition had sought an explanation from the government for the delay in according approvals to the project. Adding to Hek's reply, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the state elections have delayed the process and the government is reviewing the matter.

The estimate for the project had also shot up from Rs 189 crore to Rs 234.89 crore in the past few months, he said. "The file was sent to the finance department in February and then there were elections. Yes it has been a month now and we are reviewing the matter but I can assure you that it (according sanction) will not take five years like it did before," he said in an apparent dig at the previous government. Mukul Sangma, however, alleged that "too much of politics" over the matter has led to the delay.

The former CM had laid the foundation stone for the project six years ago. Replying to the CM's jibe, the leader of opposition said the previous government had tried to remove encroachments from the Tura civil hospital complex during its tenure but "sheer politics" over the matter prevented it from doing so. Interrupting Mukul Sangma, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said, "We don't want lectures during the Question Hour." The leader of opposition, in turn, asked the deputy chief minister to refrain from disturbing him when he was trying to raise an important issue.

He urged the government to "show its seriousness on the matter" as over 100 acres of land have been donated by the people for the project. Earlier, government chief whip Agatha Sangma sought a clarification from the health minister for shifting the location for the medical college. To this, Hek said the project had to be moved to a new site because the first one did not meet the norms laid down by the Medical Council of India.