75 per cent increase in UG medical seats, 93 per cent in PG: Centre

"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," said Mandaviya.

New Delhi: Under-graduate medical seats in the country have increased by 75 per cent and the number of post-graduate medical seats have gone up by 93 per cent from 2014 till date, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. While the number of under graduate medical seats has gone up from 51,348 before 2014 to 89,875, the number of post-graduate seats increased from 31,185 seats before 2014 to 60,202.

"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," said Mandaviya. He also said that Indian students who go to other countries to pursue MBBS and obtain medical qualifications from there, have to clear the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination to get registered as a medical practitioner in India.

The steps taken by the Union Government to increase the number of seats include a Centrally sponsored scheme to set up new medical colleges by upgrading district and referral hospitals. A total of 157 new medical colleges have been approved under the scheme out of which 71 are functional. The Health Minister said that there is another Centrally sponsored scheme for upgrading existing medical colleges under the State or Central Government so that the number of MBBS and PG seats can be increased. There is a Central another sector scheme aimed at upgrading government medical colleges with the construction of super-speciality blocks.

A total of 75 projects have been approved and 55 have been completed. As for the Central sector scheme for setting up news AIIMS, 22 new AIIMS have been approved out of which under-graduate courses have started in 19, the Health Minister said. The Union Government has enacted the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) Act, 2021 to ensure rapid growth in the number of allied medical seats in the country and an interim commission has been notified under the provisions of the Act, said Mandaviya.

(With agency inputs)