Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to instruct the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to keep in abeyance, a notification issued by the National Medical Commission (NMC), which has imposed certain restrictions on the opening of new medical colleges.
In a letter sent to the Prime Minister, Mr. Stalin said that imposing the condition of 100 MBBS seats per 10 lakh population at the State level was “a direct encroachment on the rights of all State governments and penalisation of States who have invested more in their public health infrastructure over the years”.
Mr. Stalin argued that even when there was adequate availability of doctors at the State level, there were districts where the availability continued to be a persistent issue. He said this problem could be addressed only by opening of new medical colleges in such backward areas. “Any restriction on new medical colleges based on State level criteria will deprive these deserving districts of much needed tertiary institutions,” he said.
