No decision by NMC regarding freeze on new medical colleges or MBBS seats for 2025–26: Govt

The government told the Rajya Sabha that the NMC has not frozen approvals for new medical colleges or MBBS seats for 2025–26. Minister Anupriya Patel said seat expansion continues under a structured, transparent evaluation process involving expert scrutiny and compliance checks

New Delhi: The National Medical Commission has not taken any decision regarding a freeze on the approval for new medical colleges and an increase in MBBS seats for the academic year 2025-26, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, citing information provided by NMC.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel said that NMC has implemented a structured and transparent process to evaluate and approve applications related to the approval of seats in medical colleges/ institutions.

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Listing the steps taken by the medical commission in the process, Patel said each year, the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB), NMC invites applications exclusively through an online portal for establishing a new medical college/ institution offering undergraduate courses and increasing the number of UG seats in existing institutions, or for starting new postgraduate courses or increasing the number of seats in existing PG courses as per sections 28 and 29 of the NMC Act, 2019 and requisite provisions of the ‘Establishment of Medical institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations 2023’.

Institutions may submit their applications only if they meet all the requirements outlined in the Minimum Standard Requirements issued by the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) or the Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) as applicable, Patel said.

“Upon receiving an application, the MARB conducts preliminary scrutiny and, in case of deficiencies, a show cause notice (SCN) is issued to the concerned college, allowing them to address and rectify the issues,” Patel said.

The assessment of the medical colleges is carried out by a randomly selected pool of expert assessors to maintain objectivity and impartiality in the evaluation process, she said in her written reply.

Further, Section 14 of Establishment of Medical institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023 provides that with respect to assessment for permission, the MARB may utilise such methods that include, but not to be limited to, verification of documents in digital or another form, Aadhaar-based attendance register, verification of live video feed, photographs, Hospital Management Information System data, or a surprise physical assessment, etc, she said.

The assessments are examined by report scrutinizers/experts. If further shortcomings are identified, the institution is issued an SCN in accordance with the proviso to sub-section (3) of Section 28 of the NMC Act, providing an additional opportunity for compliance.

Letter of Permission is granted only to those institutions that fully comply with all relevant provisions of the NMC Act 2019 and the regulations, guidelines issued thereunder by the Commission from time to time, Patel stated.