MCI scraps 32% of MBBS seats to safeguard quality
The Medical Council of India (MCI) has scrapped an astonishing 32% of MBBS seats nationwide in its attempt to safeguard the quality of medical education. As a result, competition for the seats left will now be more cut-throat than ever before.
The MCI withdrew permission for
15,890 of the 49,950 MBBS seats nationwide. It cited failure of several
colleges to arrange for minimum infrastructure required for ensuring proper
education and training to future doctors.
“In order
to run a medical college, one has to meet the minimum requirements and
regulation set by the MCI,” president of MCI, Dr Jaishreeben Mehta told HT.
The
biggest loser was Andhra Pradesh that had 2,100 seats scrapped from its
colleges, followed byMaharashtra (1,675), Karnataka (1,650), Tamil Nadu
(1,450), UP (1,400) and Bengal (1,200).
But there
is still hope for the axed colleges. “June 15 is the cut-off date to send their
compliance report to MCI. If we find that they have been able to meet our
requirements, we might reconsider on a case-to-case basis,” said Mehta.
It is not
yet known if MBBS seats have been scrapped from private colleges.
In 2011,
the MCI in its vision document for 2031, had said the country needed to add
10,000 MBBS seats every year. The UPA 2 government added 10,000 seats in the
next three years but MCI officials argued that most of these seats were added
to colleges that lacked proper facilities.