The number of MBBS and postgraduate seats in Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32 are set to increase by 27% in the coming five years. It has been decided by the health department that the 1.6 acre land near the GMCH campus, which was earlier earmarked for the creation of Advanced Centre for Infectious Diseases will now be used to build an academic block.
Ajay Chagti, the health secretary, highlighted that the health department is working on building the infrastructure for additional seats. “We will be able to gradually increase seats by 27% over a period of next five years. The engineering wing has already prepared rough estimates for the academic wing and the same will be vetted by the Standing Finance Committee,” he added.
This decision has come up in accordance with the central government move to increase medical seats all over the country. In her 2025 budget speech, the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has mentioned the goal to add 75,000 seats in medical colleges and hospitals in the next five years. Earlier in May this year, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) received the nod to start a 100-bed MBBS medical college in Sarangpur from its apex body chaired by the Union minister of health and family welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda.
The 1,047-bed GMCH offers 150 MBBS and 157 post graduation seats in a session. With an increased number by 27%, the current number of seats can go up to 90. However, the plan is at its initial stage, and it is not clear from which academic year the number of seats will increase. Dr Ashok Kumar Attri, director of GMCH, said, “The decision on how many seats will be increased is under consideration. We are preparing ourselves to host an extended number of seats. The layout of the new academic block is still under process.”
{{/usCountry}}The 1,047-bed GMCH offers 150 MBBS and 157 post graduation seats in a session. With an increased number by 27%, the current number of seats can go up to 90. However, the plan is at its initial stage, and it is not clear from which academic year the number of seats will increase. Dr Ashok Kumar Attri, director of GMCH, said, “The decision on how many seats will be increased is under consideration. We are preparing ourselves to host an extended number of seats. The layout of the new academic block is still under process.”
{{/usCountry}}This is the third time the UT administration has repurposed the use of 1.6 acre land in Sector-32 near GMCH. In 2018, the administration had approved the creation of a Sports Injury Centre with ₹38 crore, and in 2021, a potential revision of the project was undertaken. In 2022, during the third wave of COVID, the then advisor of administrator Dharampal announced a state of the art Advanced Centre for Infectious Diseases. The centre was proposed keeping in mind the importance of keeping surveillance and doing research on infectious diseases like COVID.
Ajay Chagti, the health secretary, said, “the Advanced Centre for Infectious Diseases is no longer in agenda as a similar project of ‘Critical Care Block’ has already been sanctioned to the directorate of health services.”