UG medical seats up by 75%, PG seats by 93% since 2014, says govt

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has apprised the Rajya Sabha that the number of undergraduate medical seats has gone up 75% and post-graduate seats have increased by 93%.

While replying to a written question in Rajya Sabha, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the number of undergraduate medical seats has increased from 51,348 before 2014 to 89,875 now, an increase of 75%. As far as PG medical seats are concerned, these increased by 93% during the same period.

"The number of UG seats has increased from 51,348 before 2014 to 89,875 seats as of date which is an increase of 75 per cent. The number of PG seats has increased by 93 per cent from 31,185 seats before 2014 to 60,202 now," Mandaviya said, as reported by NDTV.

He also added that Indian medical students who go to other countries to study MBBS and obtain foreign medical qualifications have to clear the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) to practice in India.

Steps taken by govt to increase the medical seats

The minister said the government has taken many steps to further increase the availability of doctors in India, these include:

• A centrally sponsored scheme for the establishment of new medical colleges by upgrading district/referral hospitals. Under this scheme, 157 new medical colleges have been approved and 71 are already functional.
• Another centrally sponsored scheme for strengthening or up-gradation of existing state government or central government medical colleges to increase MBBS and PG seats.
• A central sector scheme for the up-gradation of government medical colleges by the construction of super speciality blocks.

The government also said a total of 75 projects have been approved and 55 are completed. Under the central sector scheme for setting up the new All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS), 22 AIIMS have been approved. Out of these, 19 AIIMS colleges have started the undergraduate courses. 

Moreover, for rapid growth in the number of allied medical seats in the country, the government has enacted the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) Act, 2021 and an interim commission has been notified under the provisions of the Act, the minister added.

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