The Maharashtra government is preparing to contest the National Medical Commission's (NMC) decision to deny approval for ten proposed medical colleges in the state. Among the 12 applications submitted for new medical institutions—comprising ten government-run and two private colleges—only GT Hospital in Mumbai and MGM Nerul received approval, each with an intake of 50 seats for the current year.

The rejected proposals came from districts including Jalna, Bhandara, Washim, Buldhana, Gadchiroli, Nashik, Amravati, Ambernath, and Hingoli, primarily due to not meeting NMC’s essential standards. Additionally, SIMS Aurangabad was given notice of deficiencies and granted 15 days to comply with the required norms.

“We intend to appeal against this decision while simultaneously enhancing our manpower,” a senior official from the Medical Education Department stated. The department plans to address the shortage by filling vacant faculty positions on a contractual basis. Specifically, they aim to fill 30% of the 800 pending assistant professor positions, 167 associate professor positions, and 400 professor positions.

The NMC’s rejections were mainly attributed to inadequate facilities in rural areas, such as the lack of clean drinking water and insufficient infrastructure. The state government is committed to addressing these shortcomings and plans to reapply for approval soon. “We are dedicated to meeting all the conditions set by the commission,” affirmed a senior department official.

Dinesh Waghmare, Secretary of the Medical Education Department, emphasized that the shortage of skilled manpower was a significant reason for the rejections. “If necessary, we will arrange for contractual manpower,” he added.

To ensure adequate staffing in newly established rural medical colleges, such as those in Gadchiroli, Hingoli, and Jalna, the government is considering transferring professors from existing colleges, with participation being voluntary.

Maharashtra currently offers 8,000 MBBS seats, and the addition of 800 seats from the new colleges is aimed at improving healthcare access across the state. The government has allocated approximately Rs 97 crore from its supplementary budget to staff and equip these new institutions.