No NMC decision to freeze approvals of new medical colleges, increase in seats: Health Minister tells Parliament
NMC Approval
New Delhi: Ending all the speculations regarding the National Medical Commission (NMC) freezing approval for new medical colleges and increase of MBBS seats for the academic year 2025-2026, the Union Minister of State for Health, Smt. Anupriya Patel recently informed the Rajya Sabha that the Apex Medical Commission has not taken any decision in this regard.
In a written reply, Minister Patel said that NMC has implemented a structured and transparent process to evaluate and approve applications related to the approval of seats in medical colleges/ institutions.
Listing the steps taken by the medical commission in the process, Patel said each year, the Medical Assessment and Rating Board, NMC invites applications exclusively through an online portal for establishing a new medical college/ institution offering undergraduate courses and increasing the number of UG seats in existing institutions, or for starting new postgraduate courses or increasing the number of seats in existing PG courses as per sections 28 and 29 of the NMC Act, 2019 and requisite provisions of the 'Establishment of Medical institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations 2023'.
Institutions may submit their applications only if they meet all the requirements outlined in the Minimum Standard Requirements issued by the Undergraduate Medical Education Board or the Postgraduate Medical Education Board as applicable, Patel said.
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"Upon receiving an application, the MARB conducts preliminary scrutiny and in case of deficiencies, a show cause notice is issued to the concerned college, allowing them to address and rectify the issues," Patel said.
The assessment of the medical colleges is carried out by randomly selected pool of expert assessors to maintain objectivity and impartiality in the evaluation process, she said in her written reply.
Further, Section 14 of Establishment of Medical institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023 provides that with respect to assessment for permission, the MARB may utilise such methods that include, but not to be limited to, verification of documents in digital or another form, Aadhaar-based attendance register, verification of live video feed, photographs, Hospital Management Information System data, or a surprise physical assessment, etc, she said.
The assessments are examined by reports scrutinizers/experts. If further shortcomings are identified, the institution is issued an SCN in accordance with the proviso to sub-section of Section 28 of the NMC Act, providing an additional opportunity for compliance.
Letter of Permission is granted only to those institutions that fully comply with all relevant provisions of the NMC Act 2019 and the regulations, guidelines issued thereunder by the Commission from time to time, Patel stated.
Earlier news reports had suggested that the Apex Medical Commission had decided to freeze approval for new medical seats or increase of medical seats for the academic year 2025-2026. This decision had reportedly been taken following the controversy over the NMC inspection bribery scandal involving fraudulent approvals being granted to medical colleges.
According to the CBI investigation, bribes were taken to grant approvals to medical colleges that lacked basic infrastructure, qualified faculty, and adequate patient care facilities.
