A border district long starved of advanced healthcare got a close-up inspection from the top — Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami conducted a ground-level review of the under-construction Babu Jagjivan Ram Medical College at Chandak, Pithoragarh on Sunday, 25 October 2026, walking through construction sites, quizzing students, and issuing firm deadlines to officials.

Dhami posted on X that he 'reviewed the progress of construction works through a site inspection' and held direct conversations with students to understand their experiences and gather suggestions. He directed concerned officials to complete all construction work within the set timeline and to the highest quality standards.

50 seats, one border district's medical future

The most concrete milestone the Chief Minister flagged: admission for 50 seats has begun from the current academic session. For Pithoragarh — a remote district sharing borders with both Nepal and China, historically dependent on distant cities for specialist care — even fifty MBBS seats represent a structural shift. Students from the hills no longer need to migrate solely for medical education; doctors trained here are also more likely to serve here.

The college carries the name of Babu Jagjivan Ram, the former Deputy Prime Minister and towering Dalit statesman — a naming choice that layers social symbolism onto an infrastructure story. Dhami noted that the institution will 'strengthen healthcare facilities in border district Pithoragarh and surrounding areas,' and that citizens will gain access to 'better and modern medical services' alongside new educational opportunities for youth.

Quality deadline orders issued on-site

The site visit was not ceremonial. Dhami stated he gave direct instructions to officials to complete all construction within the 'determined timeline with high quality' — language that signals ongoing work still has ground to cover. The in-person inspection, rather than a desk review, underscores the state government's framing of infrastructure accountability in hard-to-reach districts.

Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Ajay Tamta, who represents a constituency in Uttarakhand, was present alongside MLA Bishan Singh Chufal of Didihat and MLA Fakir Ram Tamta — a cross-section of local and central representation that adds political weight to the occasion.

Uttarakhand's push for healthcare equity in hilly terrain

Uttarakhand's hilly geography has long made healthcare access deeply unequal — a district hospital in a plains city and a clinic a three-hour mountain drive apart are not equivalent options. The state government has, over recent years, framed the expansion of medical colleges in remote districts as a direct response to this geographic disadvantage. Dhami articulated the broader intent plainly: 'Our government is continuously working to provide accessible, modern, and quality health services to every citizen of the state, especially those living in remote and border areas.'

A medical college in Pithoragarh also plugs into the national push to increase MBBS seats in underserved states — a policy priority that has seen dozens of new government medical colleges sanctioned across India's hilly and tribal regions over the past several years. Getting the Chandak college fully operational, on schedule, would move Uttarakhand measurably forward on that arc.

The construction clock is now public. Whether the deadline holds will be the real test of this inspection's weight.