As Maha Govt approves establishment of 18 Medical Colleges, plan to start 10 institutes this year hits roadblock

Mumbai: Bringing good news to the medical aspirants in Maharashtra, the State Government in its final budget before the assembly elections has announced that 18 new medical colleges would be established in the State.

These medical colleges will be set up in 18 districts with an intake capacity of 100 MBBS seats and 430-bed hospitals, Medical Buyer has reported.

Meanwhile, as per a TOI report, the State's plan to start 10 new medical colleges and add 1,000 MBBS seats this year may not become a reality as most of these colleges have received unfavourable feedback from the National Medical Commission (NMC) during the inspections last week.

Among these 10 proposed colleges, three or four, including one medical college proposed at GT Hospital, Fort, hope to fulfil the requirements. However, it is likely that the other institutes will have to wait at least a year before commencing admission.

NMC is responsible for approving and regulating medical education in India. Being the Apex Medical Education Regulatory body in the country, the commission identified shortcomings in these medical colleges in terms of faculty, infrastructure and equipment at some of the colleges. After identifying these shortcomings during the physical inspections last Monday, NMC had an online interaction on Friday.

Also Read: Maharashtra Govt Approves 2 New Medical Colleges with 100 MBBS Seats Each

Confirming this, a State official informed the Times of India, "The shortcomings cast doubt on whether all colleges will be able to meet NMC’s requirement to start this year."

As per the Daily, the colleges will likely receive letters intimating the NMC decision this week. Only after receiving the letters, it will be clear whether they can start as planned or if they need to make improvements and re-apply.

Commenting on the matter, a dean at a proposed college said that some of the colleges were given early indication of rejection during video interaction last Friday. He informed TOI, "The NMC found only the dean recruited at one institute, with teachers yet to be hired."

Several of these medical colleges lacked infrastructure such as inadequate college buildings, faculties, hostels, and libraries with books, furniture and equipment. 

One such example is Ambernath College which has integrated four hospitals to meet the minimum bed strength requirement. While the college has made this arrangement on a temporary basis, the NMC team raised don't about it and found it unfeasible, sources informed the Daily.

"NMC felt bare essentials were missing in most," said another dean, on the condition of anonymity. He further added that NMC was not impressed by the lack of a basic attendance tracking system. "Biometrics weren’t installed in several colleges," the Dean informed.

Among these 10 medical colleges, MMR is slated to have two colleges, one in Mumbai (operating out of GT and Cama hospital campuses) and another in Ambernath. Also, new medical colleges are planned in Bhandara, Buldhana, Washim, and Amravati in the Vidarbha region; Jalna and Hingoli in the Marathwada region, and Nashik and Gadchiroli. Each of these medical colleges is set to have 100 MBBS seats each. These new institutes are central to the State's plan to have at least one medical college in all 36 districts.

However, a state official said that approvals rarely come after one inspection in the process of setting up a medical college. He added, "Once deficiencies are identified, we will make necessary corrections and re-apply."

Highlighting the contrast, the official further pointed out that the State has 5,000 MBBS seats in the private sector, where many colleges face challenges in terms of faculty and patient load but still obtain permission easily.

He added, "Even if approvals are delayed this year, they will be secured in 1-2 years as the government has made budget allocations."

Currently, the State has 25 government medical colleges with an intake capacity of 3,950 MBBS seats. While the State aims to add 1,000 more seats, the effective increase may only reach 300-400 seats this year if approval is granted to only three or four of these new medical colleges. Since 2014, the State started nine new medical colleges. However, meant of these colleges are facing severe challenges regarding faculty and hostels. 

Amid this situation, presenting the final budget of the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government before the assembly elections, Finance Minister Ajit Pawar announced setting up 18 new medical colleges in 18 districts with an intake capacity of 100 MBBS students each, Medical Buyer has reported. As per the Daily, a Unani Medical College will be set up in Raigad, and an Ayurveda College will be established in Buldhana district.

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