Kohima, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday laid the foundation stone of the Mon Medical College, the second medical college in the northeastern state along Myanmar.

The Mon Medical College would be set up in Mon district adjoining Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Myanmar borders at a cost of Rs 325 crore of which Rs 292 crore would be given by the centre and is planned to be completed by 2023-24.

The setting up of the new medical college in Mon, one of the most backward and farthest districts from the state capital, would facilitate to avail the affordable secondary healthcare facilities to the doorsteps of nearly 2.5 lakh people.

Speaking at the foundation laying ceremony, Harsh Vardhan underscored the holistic development of the northeast region being planned and carried out on the ground by the apex political leadership under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said at present there are 562 medical colleges in the country out of which 286 are in the government sector while 276 are in the private sector. Another 175 medical colleges are also in the process of development. Against 52,000 MBBS seats in 2013-14, there are now 84,000 Under Graduate medical seats.

Around 1,50,000 health and wellness centres have been set up in the country, the Union Minister said.

Harsh Vardhan said that the government aims to eliminate Tuberculosis by 2025 from India and urged the state government to work to ensure the same.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio in his address observed that the medical college would not only benefit Mon and Nagaland but also the people living in neighbouring states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and even Myanmar.

Stating that the medical college would be run by the state government under Public-Private-Partnership, the Chief Minister outlined that Mon Medical College is one of the 75 district medical colleges to be constructed in the districts of the country where people have been historically deprived of development and health facilities due to their locational disadvantage.

Nagaland Health and Family Welfare Minister S Pangnyu Phom while addressing the gathering stated that Nagaland has never had the privilege of having two medical colleges being sanctioned by the Centre. He stated that the desire to establish medical college was not only to produce more manpower but also to enhance healthcare delivery.

He added that Nagaland at the time of statehood inherited a deplorable state of health care facility, however over the years healthcare in the state has improved although much is needed to be done.

Phom said that most of the private healthcare is concentrated in Kohima and Dimapur and the rest are dependent on public healthcare.

Due to lack of facilities and equipment in public health care, most people from the other parts of Nagaland are not able to avail proper healthcare services, he added.