Mumbai: National Medical Commission Approves 2 New Medical Colleges In State, Rejects 10 Proposals

Mumbai: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has so far approved only two out of the 14 applications for starting new medical colleges in Maharashtra. Of 10 proposals for government-run colleges, the medical education regulator has given the nod to only one, which will come up on the common campus of Gokuldas Tejpal (GT) and Cama hospitals in Fort area.

A medical college of MGM Institute of Health Sciences, a private deemed university in Nerul, is another institute permitted to start operating from this academic year 2024-25. Both the institutes will offer 50 MBBS seats, even though the latter had applied for 100.

On Saturday, NMC had issued a public notice announcing that it has communicated to the respective institutes the final decision about the applications for the establishment of 113 new medical colleges across the country for 2024-25.

The proposals for the government colleges in Jalna, Bhandara, Washim, Buldhana, Gadchirloi, Nashik, Amravati, Ambernath and Hingoli were rejected by the apex body for failing to meet its norms. While two of the private colleges – Malati Medical College in Akola and Ideal Institute of Medical Science in Palghar – said that they are yet to receive a response from the commission, Sriramchandra Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) in Aurangabad also failed to make the cut in this approval cycle.

The new government colleges have been in the making for the last few years, as the state looks to improve its doctor-to-population ratio and enhance healthcare facilities in Maharashtra. In the recent supplementary budget, the state government allocated around Rs97 crore to hire staff and provide other amenities at the newly created colleges and hospitals.

However, following a recent inspection, NMC found most of the colleges lacking in faculty, infrastructure and equipment. The state has now sought the details of the deficiencies from the commission. “We will submit an appeal to NMC to review the rejected applications,” said Dinesh Waghmare, Secretary, Department of Medical Education.

Dr Shashank Dalvi, vice chancellor of MGM Institute, said that while they had applied for 100 undergraduate medical seats, the council only permitted them a capacity of 50 for this academic year. "They found some deficiencies related to infrastructure, even though we had met all the norms, including the bio-metric attendance. We will make the necessary compliances in the due course of time," he said.

NMC also flagged shortcomings at SIMS Aurangabad. “We have been given 15 days to comply with the norms,” said Dr Swati Shiradkar, dean of the institute.

Meanwhile, colleges in Palghar and Akola said that they did not receive any e-mail from the commission even though their names have been mentioned in its list. “We have written to the council to inform us about its decision,” said an official from Malati College.