New Medical Colleges Face Setback As NMC Approval Pending, Parents Await Clarity

Mumbai: Maharashtra is expected to witness the establishment of 12 new medical colleges, which will bring relief to aspiring medical students. The National Medical Commission (NMC) has received proposals from 10 government colleges and two deemed universities to initiate the MBBS program.

The medical education department has released government resolutions (GR) to recruit faculty for the 10 new medical colleges. This includes 2,440 teaching positions and 2,040 non-teaching positions, which will contribute to the addition of 1,000 medical education seats starting from the next academic year. Additionally, the state public hospitals will see an increase of 4,300 beds, with each of the ten colleges adding 430 beds.

While the state is hopeful of starting at least seven to eight colleges in the upcoming academic year, Dilip Mhaisekar, head of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) has said that inspections by the National Medical Commission (NMC) have still not happened. 

“The first round of inspections usually commences in Jan-Feb, but we have got a notification from NMC that they have one case pending in the high court, due to which this inspection has been delayed,” said Mhaisekar to the Free Press Journal. 

If the govt manages to get a nod before June or July, MBBS aspirants can expect an addition of at least 1000 to 1200 seats this year to the total pool of government seats.

Students and parents not expecting much this year.

Mahi Malakar, one of the parents, expressed that the college should have obtained NMC approvals by now, as promised, in order to include it in the admission process starting in June/July.

"The process is time-consuming and requires multiple visits, and there is limited time available. The parents believe that even if some of these colleges start admitting students in the next academic year, it will be a significant relief," said Malakar.

Contradicting parent's worries,  Dinesh Waghmare,  Secretary of Maharashtra Medical Education said, “It won’t affect students at all. The admission will be done through the CET Cell & the cell will notify only those colleges who have received the recognition by NMC by then.” 

Another NEET aspirant from Mumbai named Vijay Shinde said that it will be beneficial for students like us who cannot afford expensive private medical education. But the government should not rush into starting new colleges without having proper infrastructure, he added.

These new govt medical colleges (GMCs) with a capacity of 100 seats each will be set up in Ambernath, Palghar, Hingoli, Wardha, Gadchiroli, Bhadara, Buldhana, Jalna, Washim and Amravati. 

Published on: Monday, March 18, 2024, 07:45 PM IST