43 new medical colleges established in 2025-26; 11,682 MBBS seats approved: Minister in RS
New Delhi (PTI): Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that 43 new medical colleges have been established across the country for the academic year 2025–26.
As informed by the National Medical Commission (NMC), the government has approved 11,682 MBBS seats and 8,967 postgraduate (PG) seats, [including AIIMS and Institutes of National Importance (INIs)] across the country for the same academic year, Patel said in a written reply.
The NMC invites online applications every year from medical colleges and institutions across the country for the establishment of new medical colleges and for the increase of undergraduate (UG) and PG seats.
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Further, letter of permission (LoP) or letter of disapproval (LoD) is issued after following due process of scrutiny and assessment in accordance with the provisions of the Establishment of Medical Institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023, Minimum Standard Requirement for Undergraduate courses (UGMSR), 2023, the Minimum Standard Requirement for Postgraduate courses (PGMSR), 2023, and other relevant norms and guidelines issued by the NMC from time to time.
The Union Health Ministry administers a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) for "Establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals" with preference to underserved areas and aspirational districts, where there is no existing government or private medical college with fund sharing between the Centre and state governments in the ratio of 90:10 for North Eastern and special category states and 60:40 for others, Patel explained.
Under the scheme, 157 medical colleges have been approved in three phases with a total approved cost of Rs 41,332.41 crore. Out of the central share of Rs 26,715.84 crores, an amount of Rs 23,246.10 crore has been released so far, Patel said.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
