NMC’s new guidelines may have adverse impact on Tamil Nadu: Experts
The exception to the cap in seats has been provided to the colleges which have applied for the 2023-24 academic year for increased seats, but failed to get the same
States which perform well in higher education, such as Tamil Nadu, are likely to be adversely impacted with the recent guidelines rolled out by the National Medical Commission (NMC) which caps the annual MBBS student intake in every medical college—run by the state government and private institutions-- at 150.
After the 2023-24 academic year, permission for establishing of new medical colleges, the NMC said, will be issued only for an annual intake capacity in the specific numbers of 50, I00 and l50 seats. “Provided that [the] medical college shall follow the ratio of 100 MBBS seats for 10-lakh population in that state/ UT,” the notification said.
The guidelines were published in the Gazette of India on August 16 by NMC’s Under Graduate Medical Education Board titled, ‘Guidelines for Under Graduate Courses under Establishment of New Medical Institutions, Starting of New Medical Courses, Increase of Seats for Existing Courses & Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023’.
The objective of the new guidelines, according to the NMC, is to prescribe minimum requirement of accommodation on campus and in teaching hospitals, staff (teaching and technical), equipment in the college departments and hospitals for any medical college admitting MBBS students. Hence, the 50, 100, 150 seats will be directly proportional to the strength of the college’s infrastructure and teaching faculty. For engineering colleges, this number is 60, 120, 180 seats. “Colleges seeking an increased number of seats cannot exceed a total of 150 MBBS students from the year 2024-25,” the notification said.
The exception to the cap in seats has been provided to the colleges which have applied for the 2023-24 academic year for increased seats, but failed to get the same. For the upcoming academic year, they can ask only once for seats totalling to 200 or 250.
The new guidelines mean that Tamil Nadu, with an eight-crore population will not be able to add more seats since there are more than 10,000 seats across 70 undergraduate medical colleges in the state. One in eight doctors from India is from Tamil Nadu, according to the data from the Medical Council of India, provided by former union health minister Harsh Vardhan in the parliament in 2019. The state has a doctor for every 253 people, a ratio which is at par with Scandinavian countries and above norms stipulated by WHO. The state has remained a forerunner in education and public health infrastructure.
“Tamil Nadu’s enrolment in higher education is phenomenally high compared to other states. It is 15% higher than the national average so how can the students be denied their rightful education within the state?” questions education analyst and career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi. “And if this is the new scenario then they should do away with the All India Quota [AIQ] and give state governments the autonomy to fill all the seats. With the AIQ, Tamil Nadu will have 15% additional medical seats.”
Experts say that the state is being punished for doing well. Tamil Nadu has an almost equal number of state-run medical colleges, with an annual fee of ₹18,000, as compared to private institutions (which can even go above ₹25-lakhs per year). “If other states are unable to produce more doctors, why bar Tamil Nadu? The rules should not be generic but it has to differentiate between states,” says general secretary of the State Platform for Common School System, Prince Ganjendra Babu. Citing an example of Cuba which has more than required doctors so their government deputes them to South American and African countries, Babu says when Tamil Nadu produces more doctors than the stipulated ratio, they will contribute to the country. “They must not curtail a state which is able to provide these opportunities.”
In the Constitution of India, hospitals and dispensaries come under the state list which makes healthcare a duty of the state and will also require an adequate number of doctors. “The new guidelines go against the vision of the Constitution. If at all they need to bring in any regulations it has to be for private colleges,” says Babu.
The critical need for every state to strengthen its own healthcare system and medical education has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Tamil Nadu, which has been opposing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions into medical colleges, has argued that the common nation-wide test is biased against students hailing from poor and rural backgrounds who access resources and coaching. Succession state governments- led by the DMK and AIADMK- have strengthened the primary, second and tertiary healthcare system in the state that it functions on auto-pilot mode no matter which party is governing.