Parents of pvt medical college students urge Meghalaya govt to provide financial help to institute

SHILLONG: Parents and guardians of MBBS students at P A Sangma International Medical College and Hospital have urged the Meghalaya government to provide urgent support to the institution, claiming that its financial difficulties could affect the quality of education and clinical training.

PIMC, the state's first private medical college , received approval from the National Medical Commission in October 2024 to commence its MBBS programme and started its first academic session the same year.

For the 2025-26 academic session, 43 of the 100 approved seats were allocated under the state quota. In a memorandum submitted to the Commissioner and Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, the parents and guardians of the 2026 batch said they had recently visited the PIMC campus and witnessed the development of the Super Speciality Hospital, advanced clinical facilities, hostels and other academic and healthcare infrastructure.

They said they were concerned about the institution's financial position and its ability to complete and operationalise the facilities required to provide quality medical education and healthcare services.

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"We therefore earnestly appeal to the Government of Meghalaya to urgently extend appropriate financial support to PIMC, enabling it to overcome its severe financial difficulties, meet its immediate obligations, complete essential infrastructure and maintain the quality of medical education and clinical training expected by our children," the memorandum said.

A senior health official said that the state government is taking a call on the appeal. The institution was established under the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM), and is named after former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma.

The parents said PIMC had invested heavily in infrastructure and incurred substantial bank loans and other financial liabilities for developing the institution and its facilities. They further claimed that the financial constraints had affected the institution's ability to service bank instalments and resulted in difficulties in disbursing staff salaries on time.

"We firmly believe that supporting PIMC at this critical juncture is not merely assistance to an institution; it is an investment in the future of our children, medical education and healthcare in Meghalaya and the entire Northeast," they said.

The guardians also appealed to the government to ensure that the financial difficulties did not adversely affect students' education, clinical training or future careers, or impose any additional financial burden on them and their families beyond the existing fee commitments.