VIJAYAWADA: The State government has strongly opposed the decision by the National Medical Council (NMC) to allow and allocate medical education seats according to the population of a State or Union Territory. With the order coming into effect from the next academic year, southern States have questioned the Centre over freedom to provide healthcare and education to medical aspirants in their respective territories. According to the decision by the NMC, the medical seats of Andhra Pradesh should be limited to 5,340 seats instead of the existing 6,435 medical seats to maintain a balanced ratio for the projected population of 5.34 crore as of 2021.
The NMC notification, which was published on August 16, is applicable to government and private medical colleges across the State. Moreover, new medical colleges will only be permitted to have an annual intake of 50, 100, or 150 seats. This rule is contingent on medical colleges adhering to a specific seat allocation formula, ensuring a ratio of 100 MBBS seats per 10 lakh population in the respective State or Union Territory.
Recently, YSRCP MP Vijaya Sai Reddy expressed his concern over this decision of the NMC. He tweeted on X, “The decision of the National Medical Council to allocate medical education seats according to the population of a State is grossly unfair. AP should not be punished for having controlled its population growth.”
Speaking to TNIE, Dr. Korukonda Babji, Vice-Chancellor of Dr. YSR University of Health Sciences, clarified, “We haven’t received any notification neither from the Central government nor the NMC.”
He emphasised that Centre can suggest controlling medical seats based on population but cannot mandate decreasing them.
Babji explained, “Medical colleges in AP operate with a 60:40 ratio of funding between the Central and State governments.” He expressed concern over exceeding seat limits might jeopardise their support from the Union government.
Responding to the NMC notification, Dr. CH Chaitanya Kumar, General Secretary of AP Junior Doctors’ Association (APJUDA) said that aspirants’ demand for more seats and colleges might lead to a decrease in the quality of education.
He highlighted that inspections were diluted due to online processes during the pandemic. Furthermore, he stated, “After completing undergraduate studies in medicine, opportunities may become a significant problem.”
Speaking to TNIE, T Kameswara Rao, General Secretary of Praja Arogya Vedika, an NGO working on the people’s health issues said, “The World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests one doctor for 1,000 population; the NMC’s decision is far from WHO’s guidelines.”
He further urged the Centre to ensure the quality of education. Rao highlighted that countries like Cuba and states like Kerala successfully managed the pandemic due to a higher doctor-to-population ratio. “People globally overcame the pandemic with the support of doctors,” he added.