SHILLONG, July 15 - Newly-appointed member of North Eastern Council (NEC) Chandra Kanta Das today advocated for 75 per cent seat reservation for NE students in medical colleges in the region.
In his first interaction with the media here after taking charge, Das said, there is a huge shortage of doctors in the NE and to overcome it the seat reservation for medical students from the region must be increased in colleges in the region.
�I would suggest that 75 per cent of such seats be reserved for medical students for the NE�, he said.
Currently, 50 per cent of the seats are reserved for students from outside the NE, he said. With the increase in number of medical seats it would help the health care sector of the region, Das said ahead of a one-day health sector review meeting at the NEC Secretariat with Commissioner and Secretary level officers from Planning and Health departments from the NE.
Underlining the huge demand for doctors in the region, Das said, the region at the moment �needs quantity and not quality� when it comes to doctors for the region. �We need all sorts of doctors, especially specialists in the field of cardiology, anaesthesia and others�, he said.
On the other hand, Das said, it is �unfortunate� that several doctors in the region are not willing to serve in the rural areas. Through �persuasion and consensus� doctors should be urged to go and serve in the rural areas, he said.
�If need be the bond amount of medical students should be hiked to Rs 50 lakh so that they serve in the rural areas,� Das suggested. He also expressed concern on the growing number of cancer case and said early detection is the key to stop the disease�s spread.
�Mobile cancer units should run in the region, especially in the rural areas so that people could get checked up, say for example on a market day. In that way the disease could be detected early,� he said.
