Health care and medical education was virtually non-existent in Assam during British rule. Behind the most formidable task of establishing a medical institute in those days was a legend Dr. John Berry White, MRCS, a British surgeon of East India Company. The hospital he set up was the nucleus of Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, which was established in 1947 and stands as the first medical college in Assam. With increasing number of aspiring candidates for medical education, the people of Assam realized their long cherished dream for another medical college. The government was eager to have it and decided to establish the second medical college in Assam.
Hence the state government appointed an expert committee on the 7th November 1959 to go into details and explore the matter. The committee comprised of the following members with Dr. Basudev Narayan, member, Medical Council of India and then Principal of Kakinada Medical College as Chairman.
1. Sri A.B. Dasgupta Secretary Medical
2. Dr. B.L. Choudhury Director, Health Services
3. Dr. B.I. Cunvile Director, Pasteur Institute, Shillong
4. Dr. S.N. Sarma Principal, Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh
5. Dr. G.S. Das M.L.A., Gauhati
6. Dr. B. Bhattacharyya Silchar
7. Raisahab Apurba Dutta Silchar
8. Dr. U.C. Bordoloi Retired Director, Health Services, Assam, Guwahati
The expert committee after having several rounds of discussions, visited different parts of the state, had consultation with representatives of different strata of society and ultimately recommended Gauhati (present Guwahati) as the most suitable place for the second medical college of the state. The feasibility report was submitted by the expert committee and the newly constructed Ayurvedic College at Jalukbari was recommended for starting the college as it was not yet occupied. The government's decision for occupation of the college was passed in the cabinet on the 11th March, 1960.
Dr. I. Jahan, Professor and Head of the Department of Physiology and Dr. O. Lyngdoh, Professor and Head of the Department of Anatomy were transferred from Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh to start Gauhati Medical College. Dr. Lyngdoh was instructed to finalize the scheme for starting the college from the session 1060-61 in consultation with the Detector, Health services, Assam, and the Government of Assam. Subsequently Dr. I. Jahan was appointed as the Professor in-charge of Gauhati Medical College and he served in the same capacity till the appointment of Dr. S.N. Sarma as the first Principal on 3rd April, 1961.
The college authority faced some opposition from Ayurvedic College while occupying a part of the newly constructed building. The space allotted was not enough for both the office and the departments; therefore the office was on wheels for sometime in Prof. Jahan's car. Ultimately a small type house was allotted for the office. Sri Sarbananda Das was the Head Assistant of this college to organize the office. The first batch of students was admitted in the last week of September '60 without any provision for hostel accommodation. The students were lodged in the housing tenaments meant for industrial workers at Chandmari hill top. These houses had no electricity and no municipality water supply and it was a great task to overcome these difficulties.
The next hurdle to cross over was transportation of students and staff from Chandmari to Jalukbari. After discussion with government and transport department, the state transport authority agreed to provide two buses for this purpose. With the untiring efforts of the teachers and staff of the medical college, the college started functioning on the 10th October, 1960. The students passing the first MBBS examination in 1962 had to attend the hospital duties for the clinics classes. The civil hospital at Panbazar was taken over in April, 1962 after considerable resistance. Principal S.N. Sarma took great interest in construction of the college and hospital complex. The civil hospital had bed strength of only 230. The bed strength was increased up to 750 with construction of new hospital buildings including outdoor buildings. The resident staffs of the hospital were accommodated in rented houses of different parts of the city. The students of the clinical course were lodged in rented houses at Silpukhuri and a truck was used for their transportation to hospital and back. Such inconvenience was accepted by the students of those days.
Academic achievements: Gauhati Medical College was inspected on every first examination of the first batch, i.e., 1st, 2nd and final MBBS examination held in 1962, 1964 and 1965 respectively by inspectors from Medical Council of India for recognition of the college. There were also simultaneous inspections by university in 1961, 1964 and 1968. The President of Medical College of India, Dr. C.S. Patel was impressed by the progress of the institute and permitted to start post-graduate courses in the Gauhati Medical College. In February '69 post graduate courses started in Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Pharmacology, Social & Preventive Medicine, Medicine, Surgery, Eye and E.N.T. General Medical Council of U.K. recognized the bachelors degree of this college in 1969, thereby enabling the graduates to pursue higher studies in that country.
Construction of permanent college and hospital building: One hundred and eighty (180) bighas of Government land was taken over in 1961 on the Narakachal hill top and construction of the college building started in 1963-64. Sri Bimala Prasad Chaliha, the Chief Minister of Assam laid the foundation stone of the college building in the year 1963. The construction of the hostels was also taken up at the same time in the foothill region. The boys' hostels were completed between 1965 and 1966 while the girls' hostel was occupied in 1968. The government provided three buses for carrying the students and staffs to different sections of college and hospital. The permanent building of the college which as constructed by Assam Government Construction Company (AGCC) under supervision of an Assamese architect, Sri U. Choudhury and Sri Gulzar Singh of Delhi was occupied in April, 1968.
The construction of permanent hospital building was started in a plot adjacent to the college building's administrative block. However this construction had to be abandoned because of presence of large rocks. As stone breaking and clearing would incur massive expenditure, the government had decided to shift the hospital construction to foothill of Narakachal. The foundation stone was laid down on 15th August 1975 by Sri Sarat Chandra Sinha, the Chief Minister of Assam. National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) was entrusted with the responsibility for construction. The new hospital became functional in May, 1981 with some unfinished works and Obstetrics & Gynecology department was the first department that started functioning in the new building.
So, it is a story of inspiration, great determination, and courage, and above all, sacrifices! "Buildings can be made overnight but not institutions". It is only appropriate that we solemnly remember these sacrifices and strive even harder to realize the dreams of our founding greats... to indeed make it a centre of excellence. ... as written by Prof. (Mrs.) Panna Deka.