In a decision which will benefit students from lower and middle-income backgrounds, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday reiterated the decision of the National Medical Commission (NMC) that 50 percent of seats in private and deemed medical colleges will be available at par with fees of a government medical college seat.
“A few days back, the government has taken another big decision, which will benefit the poor and middle-class children. We have decided that half the seats in private medical colleges will be charged at par with government medical colleges,” PM Modi said.
This reaffirmation of decision by PM Modi comes after the decision was announced by the NMC in February that 50 percent of seats in private and deemed medical colleges will be available at par with fees of a government medical college seat of the state government or Union Territory effective from the next academic session.
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The NMC also allowed Foreign Medical Graduate students from Ukraine to complete their internship in India if they are able to complete the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE).
It is in the light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that we have found out that a large chunk of these Indian students travel to Ukraine to study medicine. It is not only Ukraine but Russia, China and several countries across Asia where aspiring doctors travel to study medicine.
India has very high demand for medical professionals. Therefore, a large number of students apply for admission to medical colleges but India faces severe short supply in the number of medical seats in the country.
As per the National Testing Agency, over 16 lakh aspirants registered to appear for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), country’s premiere medical entrance exam) in 2021. Around 50 percent or over 8.7 lakh students cleared the examination.
However, most of the students cannot find medical seats in the country as there are around 90,825 under-graduate medical seats in 605 medical colleges across the country, as per data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
