Scheme to add 10K medical seats gets Cabinet nod

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the third phase of the Centrally-Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for increasing 5,023 MBBS seats and 5,000 postgraduate (PG) medical seats in existing government medical colleges at a cost of Rs 15,034.50 crore for the next three years.

This will significantly augment the undergraduate medical capacity and enhance the availability of specialist doctors by creating additional postgraduate seats and enable introduction of new specialties across government institutions.

Out of Rs 15,034.50 crore, the central share is Rs 10,303.20 crore and the state share is Rs 4,731.30 crore.

The Health Ministry administers a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for “upgrade of existing government medical colleges to increase MBBS seats”. Under the Scheme, support is provided for civil works, equipment and furniture for increasing MBBS seats in government medical colleges. The cost is shared between the Centre and the state governments in 90:10 ratio for north-eastern and Special Category States and 60:40 for others.

In the first phase, the Centre provided support for adding 4,977 MBBS seats and 4,058 PG seats. In the second phase, the Centre provided a support of Rs 4,478 crore to add 4,000 seats in 65 colleges.

The approval for the third phase will also leverage existing infrastructure for cost-effective expansion of tertiary healthcare in government institutions as expansion of postgraduate seats ensures a steady supply of specialists in critical disciplines.

Presently, India has 808 medical colleges, highest in the world with a total intake capacity of 1,23,700 MBBS seats and 74,306 PG students. In the last decade, it added over 69,352 new MBBS seats (registering a growth of 127 percent) and 43,041 PG seats (recording a growth of 143 percent).

India’s current doctor-to-population ratio is around 1:854, which technically meets the World Health Organisation’s recommended 1:1,000 standard.