1.2k MBBS, 192 post-graduate seats added in a year: T Harish Rao

Hyderabad: Health minister T Harish Rao on Monday said Telangana saw the quickest ever jump in medical and nursing seats in a year. “We started admissions (enrolling students) in eight new government medical colleges this academic year with 1,200 MBBS seats. This is the first time in the history of the country that 1,200 seats were added in an academic year. The number of MBBS seats in government medical colleges went up from 850 in 2014 to 2,901 now, an increase by 3.3 times,” the minister said at a press conference.

Also, 192 post-graduate (PG) seats have been added this academic year, taking the total seats in public-private sector to 2,449, while nursing seats have increased from 240 in 2014 to 1,680 now, he added. The minister said that 4,080 crore (510 crore for each medical college) has been sanctioned for the purpose.

Stressing on how lack of medical colleges and seats led many students to go to other countries and how many students were caught in the Ukraine-Russia war, Harish Rao said that with more seats and 85% reservation, students would get seats in their own state. “There is no need for Telangana students to go to countries like Ukraine, China and the Philippines for medical education. The reason for this situation was discrimination against Telangana during the union regime,” the minister said.

Now, there were 6,540 MBBS seats in government and private medical colleges this academic year. “The admission notification for these seats will be out in the next 2-3 days. We are implementing 85% local reservation in ‘B’ category seats. Due to this, Telangana students can study here. With more students from Telangana getting access to medical education, quality healthcare will also become accessible for the poor,” Rao added. The minister further said that though 157 medical colleges were sanctioned to different states, not a single college was sanctioned to Telangana by the Centre and refuted claims that the state had not applied for sanctioning colleges.

Last week, 100 hospitals and health facilities have been sealed across 33 districts, while 600 notices were issued following an inspection in the state, Rao said.