The college is planned at Stipuk Pharka in Leh. Its establishment was approved by the government in December 2019, but progress towards opening the institution has faced delays. The latest approval grants an exemption from the requirement that at least 80 per cent of a new medical college’s infrastructure must be completed before recruitment can begin, clearing the way for the institution to move towards its planned launch.
Under the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) regulations governing the establishment of medical colleges, new government and private institutions must generally complete at least 80 per cent of construction work before receiving permission to admit their first academic batch. Until this requirement is met, admissions and recruitment cannot proceed under the applicable conditions.
The exemption has been granted in view of Ladakh’s cold, snowy weather and geographical challenges, which can make infrastructure development difficult. Waiting for 80 per cent of the construction to be completed could have delayed the start of medical education in the Union Territory by several years.
With the relaxation in place, recruitment for 103 sanctioned regular posts can begin before construction of the college’s infrastructure gets underway. The approved positions include faculty members and support staff. Recruitment will continue alongside the construction of the academic infrastructure at Stipuk Pharka, with the institution expected to begin teaching in the 2027-28 academic session.
The development is expected to address a long-standing demand among Ladakh’s residents, particularly students seeking medical education who have had to look beyond the Union Territory for such opportunities. The latest decision also enables preparations for staffing the institution to proceed without waiting for the prescribed level of infrastructure completion.
Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena welcomed the approval on Monday and thanked Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda for considering his request for the exemption. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Saxena expressed his gratitude to the minister for allowing recruitment of faculty and support staff to begin before the infrastructure reaches the 80 per cent completion threshold.
“I sincerely thank Health Minister J.P. Nadda Ji for considering my request and granting a one-time exemption from the condition of 80 per cent infrastructure completion to initiate recruitment of faculty and support staff,” Saxena said in his post.
The approval was communicated through a letter sent on October 13, 2026, to the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Ladakh’s Health and Medical Education Department. Saxena had written a two-page letter to Nadda seeking the relaxation, arguing for the need to begin recruitment on time so that the college could open according to schedule.
According to the Ministry’s communication, the Department of Expenditure examined the proposal and approved it subject to certain conditions. The one-time relaxation is intended to facilitate recruitment and enable the proposed institution to meet its planned opening timeline.
The approval clears a key administrative hurdle for Ladakh’s first government medical college, allowing recruitment preparations to advance alongside infrastructure development ahead of the targeted 2027-28 academic session.
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