Disappointing news for students who want to pursue MBBS after passing NEET. The Maharashtra government's plan to start 10 new medical colleges this year and take admission on 1000 new MBBS seats is unlikely to be fulfilled. After the inspection done by the National Medical Commission (NMC) last week, there was no positive response regarding opening all the 10 medical colleges. Let us tell you that the National Medical Commission (NMC) sets the standards of medical education in the country and gives the green signal for opening medical colleges and their seats. Out of the 10 proposed medical colleges, only three or four including GT Hospital Fort may get the green signal. Other medical colleges may have to wait at least a year.
According to a report in the Times of India, NMC, the body that monitors medical education, during inspection found lack of faculty, infrastructure and equipment in most medical colleges. A state government official confirmed that all medical colleges barely met the NMC standards this year. Medical colleges are expected to receive letters this week. Medical colleges can be started as per plan, they will have to make improvements and apply for recognition again, all this will be clear only after receiving the letter.
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The dean of a proposed medical college said the initial signs of disapproval were given during a video call last Friday itself. “The NMC found that only one institution has recruited a dean, teachers are yet to be appointed,” he said. Many colleges lacked college buildings, faculty, hostels, library with books, furniture and devices. For instance, the NMC team raised doubts about Ambarnath College which had attached four hospitals to meet the minimum bed capacity requirement. Though this is a temporary arrangement till the college building is completed, the NMC found it unviable. “The NMC felt basic facilities were missing in most colleges,” said another dean on condition of anonymity. He said the NMC was also not happy with the lack of a basic attendance tracking system. “Biometrics were not installed in many colleges,” the dean said.
The list of 10 newly opened medical colleges will include two colleges in MMR: one in Mumbai (operated from GT and Cama hospital campuses) and the other in Ambarnath. Also, new medical colleges are planned in Bhandara, Buldhana, Washim, Amravati in Vidarbha region and Jalna and Hingoli in Marathwada region and Nashik and Gadchiroli. Each college will have 100 MBBS seats each. The state government is working on a plan to have at least one medical college in all 36 districts of the state. An official said, “Even if the approval is delayed this year, it will be granted in 1-2 years as the government has made the budget allocation.”
The state has 25 government medical colleges with a total of 3,950 MBBS seats. While the state has set a target of adding 1,000 seats, if only three or four new colleges are approved, the number of seats will only increase by 300 or 400 instead of 1,000.
