Congress MP visits NEIGRIHMS, aims to elevate healthcare standards

Congress MP from Tura, Saleng A Sangma visited the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) on being nominated as a member of its Governing Council recently. 

Sangma chaired a meeting where he was briefed about the current status of NEIGRIHMS and also interacted with many faculty members and staff, including heads of various departments and sections of NEIGRIHMS.  

In his address, the MP asserted that the main aim of his visit was to get an overall understanding about various issues affecting NEIGRIHMS.

He added that it would only then be possible to take up the matter with the Central government to ensure that NEIGRIHMS develops into a premier institution for the provision of the highest quality of healthcare to the people of the entire Northeastern region. 

Director, Professor Nalin Mehta apprised the Tura MP about the main areas of concern at NEIGRIHMS including the shortage of faculty, long overdue cadre review, parity with AIIMS, New Delhi and PGIMER, Chandigarh, and requirement of land to make a guest house for needy patients.

He also emphasised the need for conferring the status of Institute of National Importance (INI) to NEIGRIHMS to help overcome numerous obstacles, further urging the faculty to submit a brief note about their requirements so that he could take necessary steps to resolve them at the earliest.

Sangma stated that the entire region looked upto NEIGRIHMS as it was the best hospital and teaching institution in the area, and hence he would take up the matter at the earliest.

During the meeting, he also said that he would cut across party lines and hold discussions with the Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from the other Northeastern states as well to help resolve the key issues plaguing NEIGRIHMS, the most sought after healthcare set up in the region.  

Furthermore, he was happy to note that the people of Meghalaya and the entire NE were benefiting immensely from the health care provided by NEIGRIHMS and hence considered it his duty to ensure that it improves further. 

The MP also assured that he would also take up NEIGRIHMS’s request for allotment of a parcel off-land to build a patient guest house near NEIGRIHMS on priority with the Meghalaya government, as this would be of great help to patients who comes from faraway places to seek treatment at NEIGRIHMS. 

The MP also promised that he would take up the issues of impediments to delivery and supply of medicines and high-end medical equipment as per local rules and regulations and resolve them after discussing the matter with the concerned district councils. During his visit, the MP also met representatives of the NEIGRIHMS Staff as well as the Nursing Associations.