India's medical colleges jump to 844, MBBS seats rise to 1.39 lakh
India has seen a sharp rise in medical education capacity over the past decade, with the number of medical colleges increasing from 387 in 2014
India has seen a sharp rise in medical education capacity over the past decade, with the number of medical colleges increasing from 387 in 2014 to 844 now and undergraduate MBBS seats rising from 51,348 to 1,39,489, Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday. Patel also said postgraduate medical seats have gone up from 31,185 to 86,360 during the same period. She said the expansion of medical colleges in remote and underserved areas, along with more MBBS seats, is expected to improve the availability of doctors and strengthen healthcare delivery across the country. Read Full Story Highlighting steps linked to medical training, the minister said the Family Adoption Programme has been integrated into the MBBS curriculum.
Under this programme, medical colleges adopt villages, while MBBS students adopt families in those villages and provide regular follow-up on vaccination, growth monitoring, menstrual hygiene, iron and folic acid supplementation, nutrition, healthy lifestyle practices, vector control and medication adherence. She said the District Residency Programme, introduced by the Medical Commission, makes it compulsory for postgraduate medical students to undergo a three-month posting at district hospitals as part of their training. According to the minister, the programme aims to strengthen healthcare services in rural and underserved areas. Responding to a question on the impact of Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, Patel said an evaluation commissioned by NITI Aayog found encouraging results, including better infrastructure and higher community footfall because of expanded access to comprehensive primary healthcare services.
The study also pointed to improved availability of care for non-communicable diseases, outpatient services, free medicines and diagnostic facilities. Patel said the deployment of Community Health Officers has strengthened frontline healthcare delivery, while digital platforms such as e-Sanjeevani have widened access to specialist consultations. She added that under the Health Mission, the performance of health programmes is regularly monitored through review meetings, field visits, mid-term assessments, service delivery benchmarks and annual Common Review Missions. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched several initiatives to improve service delivery, she said. These include integrated training modules in collaboration with regional training institutes, the Swasth Bharat Portal to improve digital interoperability, and greater use of the Drugs and Vaccine Distribution Management System to strengthen drug inventory and supply chain management.
The BriefWire