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1,000 additional med seats available for admission this year in Maharashtra
With PM Narendra Modi inaugurating eight new medical colleges in Maharashtra and two medical colleges in Mumbai being allocated extra 100 seats each, the state will see additional 1,000 medical seats for this academic year
PUNE: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating eight new medical colleges in Maharashtra on Wednesday and two medical colleges in Mumbai being allocated an extra 100 seats each, the state will see an addition of 1,000 medical seats for this academic year. As the admission process is still underway, the expansion will offer more opportunities for aspiring medical students.
While the state government has approved two medical colleges this year—one in Mumbai and the other in Nashik — with an intake of 50 students, the union ministry of health and family welfare has approved eight government medical colleges in Maharashtra, each with 100 seats, raising the total by 900 seats. However, many colleges are struggling with inadequate facilities (hostels etc.) despite this expansion. The approvals were granted on the condition that these issues will be addressed.
State medical education commissioner Rajiv Nivatkar said, “With eight new medical colleges approved, there will now be a total 41 government medical colleges in Maharashtra. The current total admission capacity in government medical colleges is 5,050. With the addition of these new seats, the capacity will increase to 5,850 starting this academic year.”
According to the state medical education department, the newly approved colleges in Ambernath, Gadchiroli, Washim, Jalna, Buldhana, Hingoli, and Bhandara will admit 100 students each for the undergraduate course. However, these colleges were previously denied recognition by the National Medical Commission due to insufficient faculty and inadequate facilities.
A senior government official noted that the union health ministry approved these colleges on assurances of compliance. In 2019, the government added 950 seats after implementing an economically backward quota in medical colleges. A senior official from the state health department on condition of anonymity said, “Although the union health ministry has given approval, these colleges have not yet met the minimum eligibility criteria set by the Central Medical Commission in 2020.” Some senior faculty members from J J Hospital and Grant Medical College questioned from where the necessary staff will come to maintain quality education, the official said.
As chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis had advocated a government medical college in every district which led to the establishment of 41 colleges across 35 districts. Medical education minister Hasan Mushrif has announced an allocation of ₹403 crore for infrastructure in these new colleges. But according to experts, establishing a new college typically costs between ₹550 crore and ₹700 crore, with an additional ₹150 crore needed annually for operations.
A senior officer from the Directorate of Medical Education said, “We continually face budget constraints, which impact both new and existing medical colleges. While the number of colleges has increased, the directorate itself hasn’t seen an expansion in key roles, such as joint director and additional director. There are also unresolved proposals for expanding the directorate’s structure, which have remained on the minister’s desk for years.”
Senior educators in the medical field expressed concern that these new colleges may compromise the quality of medical education. “While political ambitions drive the establishment of new medical colleges, the question of quality education remains unanswered,” said an educationist.
