GUWAHATI | Assam plans to increase its annual MBBS intake to 4,000 seats by 2031 as the state expands its medical education infrastructure, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday. Sarma made the announcement while speaking at the inauguration of the 750-bed Baba Baidyanath Medical Trust Hospital in Deoghar, Jharkhand.

The Chief Minister said Assam currently has 16 medical colleges and produces around 2,200 doctors a year, a sharp increase from the roughly 350 doctors produced annually earlier. He said the state government has a long-term vision of establishing 32 more medical colleges, in addition to AIIMS and the ESIC Medical College already functioning in Assam.

“Of these, 16 have already been established,” Sarma said, referring to the government’s expansion of medical education infrastructure.

Sarma said Assam’s medical education capacity had remained limited for decades. The state’s first medical college was established in the 1950s, followed by the second in the 1960s and the third in the 1970s. Despite a population of around 3.5 crore, Assam had only three medical colleges for several decades and produced about 300 doctors annually, contributing to a shortage of medical professionals, he said.

The government now plans to further increase MBBS seats while also creating employment opportunities for the additional doctors being trained in the state. Sarma referred to the latest State Budget, which provides for two doctors at each of Assam’s 5,000 sub-health centres.

The expansion, he said, is aimed at strengthening the state’s medical education ecosystem while improving the availability of trained healthcare professionals across Assam.