NMC Nod to Only 2 out of 12 New Medical Colleges In Maharashtra

Mumbai: Only two out of twelve medical colleges in Maharashtra have received the National Medical Commission's (NMC) approval for starting new medical colleges.

While altogether 10 government-run medical colleges had submitted proposals to the Apex Medical Commission for starting new medical institutes, NMC approved only one. This newly approved government medical college will come up on the common campus of Gokuldas Tejpal (GT) and Cama hospitals in the Fort area, FPJ has reported.

Besides this government medical college, NMC has also approved a private deemed university based in Nerul, i.e., MGM Institute of Health Sciences, to start operating from 2024-2025.

Even though MGM Institute had applied for NMC permission for 100 MBBS seats, the Commission approved 50 MBBS seats. As per FPJ report, both the institutes will offer 50 MBBS seats.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that NMC on 6th July 2024 informed that final decisions of MARB in respect of 113 applications have been communicated through e-mail IDs to the Medical Institutions/Colleges concerned for information and necessary action by them within the stipulated timeline.

Also Read: NMC notifies its Final Decision on applications to establish 113 new medical colleges

Along with the notice, NMC also published a list containing those 113 applications for starting undergraduate medical courses including the name of the concerned colleges, their application IDs, and the name of the course. Among these 113 applications, several applications were from the medical colleges in Maharashtra.

As per the latest media report by Free Press Journal NMC rejected the proposals for the government colleges in Jalna, Bhandara, Washim, Buldhana, Gadchirloi, Nashik, Amravati, Ambernath, and Hingoli as these colleges failed to comply with the Commission's norms. 

NMC also rejected the application of Sriramchandra Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) in Aurangabad. Meanwhile, two private medical colleges i.e. Malati Medical College in Akola and Ideal Institute of Medical Science in Palghar said that they had not received any response from the Commission.

FPJ has reported that these new government medical colleges were being constructed over the last couple of years as the State was aiming to improve the doctor-to-population ratio in the State and enhance healthcare facilities in Maharashtra. Recently, in its supplementary budget, the State Government allocated around Rs 97 crore to hire staff and provide other amenities at these newly constituted medical colleges and hospitals.

However, after inspecting these medical colleges, NMC found that most of these medical colleges had deficiency in terms of faculty, infrastructure, and equipment. Taking note of this, the State Government has now sought the details of these deficiencies from the Commission.

Commenting on the matter, the Secretary of the Department of Medical Education, Dinesh Waghmare told the FPJ, "We will submit an appeal to NMC to review the rejected applications."

Among the private medical colleges, NMC granted its approval to MGM Institute. Commenting on this, the Vice Chancellor of the institute Dr. Shashank Dalvi informed that even though they had applied for 100 undergraduate medical seats, NMC only granted its permission for 50 MBBS seats for this academic year.

He added, "They found some deficiencies related to infrastructure, even though we had met all the norms, including the bio-metric attendance. We will make the necessary compliances in the due course of time."

Meanwhile, in case of SIMS Aurangabad, NMC highlighted some of the deficiencies. Referring to this, the Dean of the Institute Dr. Swati Shiradkar said, "We have been given 15 days to comply with the norms."

However, NMC has reportedly not e-mailed any decisions to the medical colleges in Palghar and Akola. In this regard, an official from from Akola-based Malati College said, "We have written to the council to inform us about its decision."

Also Read: Fact Check: Has NMC given approval to 113 Medical Colleges?