India Increases Medical Seats to Over 1 Lakh in the Last Decade

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has announced a significant surge in the number of medical seats in India over the past 10 years, reaching a total of 1,08,940 MBBS seats and 70,674 postgraduate seats. The minister, sharing the data on the social media platform ‘X’, highlighted that there has been substantial growth in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.

In 2014, the country had 51,348 MBBS seats, and over the past decade, an impressive 57,592 new MBBS seats have been added, more than doubling the initial count. For postgraduate medical seats, the figures have seen an equally remarkable rise from 31,185 seats in 2014 to the current count of 70,674. During the same period, 39,489 new postgraduate seats have been introduced.

The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, had previously informed the Rajya Sabha about the approval of 157 government medical colleges under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS). Out of these, 108 are already functional, contributing to the substantial increase in medical education infrastructure.

Dr. Pawar emphasized that the government’s efforts have not only expanded the number of medical colleges but have also led to an 82% increase, from 387 in 2014 to 706 in 2023. This growth reflects a concerted push to enhance medical education and address the demand for healthcare professionals in the country.

The minister’s announcement comes as part of ongoing initiatives to strengthen the healthcare sector, ensuring a robust pipeline of trained medical professionals to meet the nation’s healthcare needs.