Centre Approves 38 New Medical Colleges
Good news for Medical aspirants!
In it’s push to improve the infrastructure and accessibility of medical education in India, the Center has approved 38 new medical colleges with 24 being government colleges for the A.Y 2021-22.
The states benefiting the most from this decision include Uttar Pradesh with 9 colleges and Tamil Nadu with 7 colleges.
This shall go a long way in convincing students to stay back here rather than going for MBBS in Abroad.
The Positives
The very hope and ideals that this decision aims to fulfill is evident from this statement by one of the officials in the Department of Medical Education of the Union Ministry of Health.
“The rise in medical colleges is in line with our aim to provide at least one medical college for every district in India and we are also on track of upgrading many district hospitals into full-fledged medical colleges”
He further elaborates that this decision shall also serve a dual purpose; one, increasing the patient-doctor ratio in India and secondly, ensuring the accessibility of secondary and tertiary healthcare services in every district.
Another positive impact of this decision is that it continues the positive developments in this field since 2014. Compared to the 54,348 seats for MBBS in India, the number of seats went up to 83,275 in 2020-21. It further saw a 6% increase to 88,120 this year, with this decision only adding more.
A hope that stems out of this decision is that the increase in number of medical colleges and in turn health centres and seats won’t just lead to increased penetration of medical services in the country. It’ll also increase the scope of employment and career opportunities in the medical field.
Obstacles and Hiccups
These points have primarily been raised by the senior faculties in the various medical institutions. These mainly highlight 2 points i.e. “Faculty Shortage” and “Infrastructure Backwardness”.
The shortage of faculty has been a constant problem in Indian medical colleges. In fact, reports have highlighted that both government and private medical colleges are forced to rely on teachers on a temporary basis.
As far as the 2nd point above is concerned, this statement by a senior faculty of the University of Health Sciences (New Delhi) sums it up.
Another major problem is lack of proper infrastructure which has not kept pace with the fast speed of increased seats and that should also be seriously addressed.”
Only time will tell whether or not this decision by the Center will address and resolve these issues or not. Keep yourself posted with further updates regarding this and other happenings in the educational sector. Follow Affinity Education on https://affinityeducation.in/
