The Union Cabinet yesterday agreed to setting up 24 new government medical colleges attached to existing district hospitals by the year 2022. The new medical colleges will be established in the identified underserved areas of the country.
As per the Cabinet Meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he also approved to the completion of the scheme for setting up of 136 General Nursing Midwifery and 112 Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery Schools by the end of the year 2019-20 in the underprivileged areas of the country. The government is already working on increasing the number of qualified doctors in the country. There has already been an addition of 13,000 MBBS seats and 7,000 postgraduate medical seats as per the scheme since 2014-15.
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As per the PTI sources, the number of undergraduate seats in the government medical colleges is to increase by 85,525. Whereas postgraduate seats will go up to 46,000 by the end of 2021. The scheme is going to bring significant change in the healthcare sector as the cabinet is trying to improve the availability of healthcare infrastructure, amenities and manpower. The Cabinet has also sanctioned Rs. 14, 930.92 crore for the expenditure.
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The main aim of the Cabinet’s decision is to create healthcare infrastructure and provide manpower to the public. They also aim to make medical education more affordable for public and to bridge the gap between provider-patient ratio to achieve sustainable development goals and meet WHO standards.