National Medical Commission: National medical commission removes cap on MBBS seats, eases population norm | India News
New Delhi: In an important policy shift, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has removed key restrictions on expansion of MBBS seats, opening the door to a significant increase in graduate medical seats across the country.In a gazette notification issued on April 27, the NMC has revised its 2023 regulations for running new medical colleges and expanding existing courses.The amendment deletes a clause that restricts 150 MBBS seats per college to seek extension from the academic year 2024-25. Colleges seeking to increase admissions will no longer be bound by this upper limit.The commission also removed the requirement that states maintain a ratio of 100 MBBS seats per 10 lakh population, a rule that earlier mandated approval for new seats.Officials have indicated that the changes are intended to provide greater flexibility to institutions and support the rapid expansion of medical education capacity in line with the growing demand for doctors.In another operational change, the NMC has revised norms regarding distance between a medical college and its teaching hospital. Instead of a travel time limit of 30 minutes, the rules now set a maximum distance of 10 km. For northeastern and Himalayan states, the limit has been relaxed to 15 km.The amendments have been notified under the NMC Act, 2019 and are applicable to both the Graduate Medical Education Board Seat Expansion Guidelines and the Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023.The move is expected to benefit both government and private medical colleges to increase capacity, especially in states where the demand for seats is outstripping supply, while the onus is on the regulators to maintain quality standards and infrastructure.
