Government nod for 4,000 PG seats in medical colleges

A record number of over 4,000 PG medical seats have been approved by Government in various medical colleges and hospitals for the academic session 2017-18 this year, taking the total number of PG seats available to 35,117.

With the move, government aims to strengthen tertiary care and improve the medical education in the country. The total increase, 2,046 seats are in medical colleges. Looking at the need to increase PG seats in clinical subjects, the Government had decided to amend the teacher student ratio in clinical subjects in government medical colleges.

"This change alone has resulted in the creation of 1,137 extra seats in 71 colleges. Many others out of the total of 212 government colleges are sending their proposals and it is expected that at least 1000 more seats can be added during the month of March 2017," Union Health Minister JP Nadda said.

This includes DNB seats, which are equivalent to MD/MS, have increased by 2,147 in the last one year.