South Indian States such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were up in arms over the new guideline by the National Medical Commission (NMC) which says that new medical colleges shall follow the ratio of 100 MBBS seats for every 10 lakh population in that State or Union Territory (UT). But a businessline analysis shows that not just the five South Indian States, but a total of nine States and four Union Territories will find it difficult to start a new medical college or increase the number of medical seats.
The list includes all five South Indian States, Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Chandigarh, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. This is because, in these States and UTs, the number of medical seats per 10 lakh population is more than 100. In Puducherry, it is as high as 1,329. It is 224 in Telangana, 173 in Karnataka and 151 in Tamil Nadu. Most of them are also States with a healthy doctor-patient ratio.
On the other side of the spectrum are States such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, where the ratio is way low, making it possible to add medical seats. In Bihar, there are 2,665 MBBS seats across colleges. However, owing to the State’s large population, for every 10-lakh people, there are just 21 medical seats. In Uttar Pradesh, the ratio is 41 seats per 10 lakh people. Most of these States have an unhealthy doctor-patient ratio too.