The state health department is building infrastructure to ensure classes at the government medical college in Cooch Behar start from the next academic year.

On one hand, the department has started construction of its academic and administrative buildings on a plot of 25 acres at Vivekananda Street of the town close to the Cooch Behar Panchanan Burma University. On the other hand, it has selected an youth hostel in the town as a temporary building to run the administrative wing and hold classes.

For practicals, the department is readying the infrastructure at Maharaja Jitendra Narayan (MJN) Hospital in the town.

“Recruitment of faculty members has already started and 43 have joined in different posts to work as faculties in the government medical college. We hope that classes for medical courses will start at the college next academic year,” said Sumit Ganguly, the chief medical officer of health (CMOH) of Cooch Behar.

Rajiv Prasad, a doctor appointed as superintendent and vice-principal of the medical college, elaborated on the infrastructure.

“The state youth affairs department has already handed over the youth hostel to the medical college authorities. It will function as administrative and academic building on temporary basis, that is, until completion of the permanent building. Initially, there are plans to introduce the MBBS course with 100 seats,” said Prasad.

The youth hostel is a three-storied building on the premises of Rajbari Stadium in Cooch Behar.

Ganguly said practical classes would be held at MJN Hospital on a permanent basis. “A hospital with at least 300 beds is required for a medical college. Here, there are 500 sanctioned beds at the hospital. It will be a part of the medical college and necessary improvement of infrastructure would be carried out,” said Ganguly.

On next month, he said, a team from the Medical Council of India (MCI) that looks after medical education and related infrastructure across the country will visit Cooch Behar to check out the state of affairs.

“The visit of MCI is important for us. Once they give us the necessary approval, we would move ahead so that classes start from next session,” said Prasad.

In north Bengal, this will be the third medical college to open. As of now, there is the North Bengal Medical College & Hospital in Siliguri and the Malda Medical College & Hospital in Malda.

“It was a longstanding demand of Cooch Behar residents to have a medical college here. Population of the entire district and also people living in neighbouring areas of Alipurduar and Assam are dependent on MJN Hospital. A new medical college would surely improve the quality of healthcare and more modern facilities of treatment would be introduced in due course. Also, the number of seats for the MBBS course will increase in our state,” said North Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh.