Govt approves new medical college in health minister's home district

The government has approved the establishment of "Narsingdi Medical College" in Narsingdi district.

Narsingdi is the home district of Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain Bakul.

The approval was announced today (14 June) through an official gazette notification from the Medical Education-1 Wing of the Health Education and Family Welfare Division.

The notification, signed by Secretary of the Health Education and Family Welfare Division Md Kamruzzaman Chowdhury, said that the college has been approved under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the order will come into immediate effect.

According to the Directorate General of Medical Education (DGME), Bangladesh currently has 37 public and 72 private medical colleges, while approvals have also been granted for public medical colleges in Narayanganj, Munshiganj and Thakurgaon.

After the current government took office, Health Minister Sakhawat, MP from Narsingdi-4, initiated efforts to establish a public medical college in his home district.

Meanwhile, all 37 public medical colleges face a severe shortage of teachers, with 42.6% of approved posts vacant. Out of 6,446 sanctioned posts, 2,700 remain unfilled. The shortage is particularly acute at the professor level, where 64.65% of posts are vacant, according to DGME sources.

DGME sources also said that six medical colleges established after 2018 in Magura, Nilphamari, Habiganj, Chandpur, Naogaon and Netrokona, have raised concerns over quality.

A review by the health ministry during the interim government's tenure found that irregularities in the establishment of medical colleges in recent years have contributed to a decline in the quality of medical education in both public and private institutions.

The ministry also cited infrastructural weaknesses, shortages of teachers in key disciplines and inadequate patient flow in affiliated hospitals as major reasons behind the decline in medical education standards.