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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Pune airport runway restored after IAF aircraft snag; ops resume
Pune (PTI): The runway at Pune airport, which was temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, has now been restored and declared operational, the Air Force said on Saturday.
The authorities at the Pune International Airport had earlier said that around 10.25 pm on Friday, a fighter aircraft experienced an undercarriage failure during landing, causing the runway to be blocked.
As many as 91 flights of airlines, including IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, Akasa, and Air India Express, were affected due to the incident, they said.
Earlier on Friday night, the Air Force had stated that the runway at Pune airport was temporarily unavailable following an incident involving one of its fighter aircraft. The aircrew are safe, and there is no damage to civil property, it had said.
"The runway at Pune Airport, which was temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an Indian Air Force aircraft, has now been restored and declared operational. All necessary safety inspections and clearances have been completed. Operations are resuming in a phased manner," it said in a post on X.
Flight operations at Pune airport are being gradually restored. The situation has been brought under control with the highest priority given to the safety of citizens, a Defence PRO said.
