New Delhi: While permitting nearly 3,200 new MBBS seats for the upcoming academic session in medical colleges across the country, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has set aside its 2023 Minimum Standard Regulations Under-Graduate (MSR-UG) at the behest of the Union health ministry, ThePrint has learnt.
The MSR-UG lays down the guidelines for setting up new medical colleges and initiating new courses, besides regulating student intake capacity.
The new seats, said officials in the medical education regulator, have been permitted based on the MSR-UG 2020.
“The decision is in line with the ministry’s stance,” said a senior NMC official.
ThePrint had earlier reported that the ministry had asked the NMC to suspend the new regulations for two years saying they have “unrealistic” infrastructure and faculty requirements, which medical colleges are finding difficult to fulfil.
The new MSR that was published last year nearly doubled the number of hospital beds, faculty members, patients, etc., required to set up new medical colleges, increase seats in existing colleges, or start new courses from the 2024-25 academic year.
The 2023 MSR-UG also included a controversial clause, which said the NMC would permit new MBBS colleges and more undergraduate seats in existing colleges based on the state population — 100 MBBS seats for every 10 lakh population. The NMC had, however, deferred the plan after pushback from southern states, which have already breached this ratio.
“This clause is not getting implemented this year either and all other requirements, too, have been put on hold while granting the new seats and permitting new undergraduate colleges,” the official quoted above said.
“That is because many district hospitals are being converted to medical colleges and some states are coming up with new institutions to raise the number of MBBS seats — they had put in special requests to the NMC and the ministry for exemption from the new requirements,” he added.
NMC spokesperson Dr Yogendra Malik, too, confirmed that the MSR-UG 2023 had been deferred.
“The new regulations have not been taken into account while permitting the fresh MBBS seats and granting renewals this year,” he told ThePrint.
In the 2023-2024 academic session, there were 1,07,950 MBBS seats.
“Total number of MBBS seats with the new approval now stands at around 1.1 lakh. There are some colleges, however, whose renewal is still under review and as such the final tally may vary slightly,” Malik said.
Penalty on most colleges
Based on inspections by the NMC’s Medical Assessment and Rating Board, said officials in the commission, more than 500 colleges, out of total 704 existing ones, have been found to be lacking in various requirements as specified under MSR-UG 2020.
Under MSR-UG 2020, a medical college with 150 MBBS seats needs 330 beds and the minimum number of patients required in the outpatient department of such colleges is 600 per day. Also, the minimum bed occupancy required in such colleges is 198 at any given time.
The rules also stipulate that the minimum number of professors required in colleges running the MBBS course is six, while there have to be 18 associate professors, 30 assistant professors and 25 senior residents.
Overall, the required number of faculty members, including the posts mentioned above and tutors or demonstrators, in medical colleges with 150 seats is 122.
“However, most colleges have been found to be defaulting on requirements related to infrastructure, faculty or other provisions and have been fined Rs 2 lakh to Rs 20 lakh,” a source in the NMC said.
He added that many of these colleges have appealed to the health ministry against the fine. “Their appeals are under review as of now,” the source said.
Some medical education experts have, meanwhile, insisted that the NMC should not go back on the criteria for permitting new colleges.
“The quality of teaching in an institution is directly linked to the status of infrastructure and faculty — as such I do not support new medical colleges getting exemption from the latest guidelines,” said Dr C.V. Bhirmanandham, former vice-president of the Medical Council of India, the predecessor of NMC.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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Very good steps taken by ministry to consider MSR UG 2020 to consider 24Lakh NEET candidates with limited govt MBBS 50K seats and request of various state govt. By this policy, seats will be increased quickly else increase like in last 70 yrs after independence. First increase seats upto 2lakh and infra will be upgraded slowly slowly. Some decisions are to be taken politically for upliftment of society and country not by buaecratic thinking.
Seats are increasing but staff requirement is decreasing. Most of the owners of medical colleges are politicians and hence arm twist the regulatory body into submission.