The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has recommended strict enforcement of fee regulations for 50% of seats in private medical colleges and deemed universities, greater flexibility for starting postgraduate courses, stronger digital monitoring, and mandatory exit examinations for medical graduates and postgraduates.
The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has called for a more affordable, accessible and closely monitored medical education system, making a series of recommendations to the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
In its 176th report, presented before Parliament on August 7, 2026, the Committee recommended strict enforcement of NMC guidelines governing fees and other charges for 50% of seats in private medical colleges and deemed universities.
The panel observed that keeping medical education affordable is critical to preventing the commercialization of healthcare delivery. It also recommended using institutional financial records and existing regulatory mechanisms to identify hidden capitation fees and ensure greater socio-economic inclusivity in medical education.
Strict Fee Regulation for Private Medical Colleges
The Committee recommended that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stringently enforce NMC guidelines on fees and all other charges applicable to 50% of seats in private medical colleges and deemed universities.
It noted that under the existing regulatory framework administered by the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB), institutions seeking approval are required to submit documents including an Essentiality Certificate from the concerned State or Union Territory, valid for three years, a Consent of Affiliation from a recognized university, and proof of corpus funds and financial solvency certified by a Chartered Accountant.
According to the panel, these financial tracking mechanisms should be used to audit institutional cost structures and prevent hidden capitation fees from bypassing regulations.
More Flexibility for Starting Postgraduate Courses
The Committee recommended greater operational flexibility to expand postgraduate medical education while ensuring that clinical exposure and educational standards are not compromised.
It noted that the transition from the earlier Minimum Standard Requirements (MSR) 1999 guidelines to MSR 2023 has brought significant changes to infrastructure requirements.
For example, a 100-seat undergraduate medical college now requires 420 beds and 85 faculty members, compared with the earlier requirement of 500 beds. Similarly, the bed requirement for a 250-seat institution has been reduced from 1,100 to 900 beds, while the mandatory bed occupancy rate has been increased to 80% to ensure adequate clinical exposure.
The Committee noted that the country’s postgraduate medical education capacity has reached approximately 80,000 seats, including seats under AIIMS, Institutes of National Importance (INIs) and NBEMS tracks.
It recommended that MARB implement reforms aimed at improving the quality and clinical exposure of postgraduate students without reducing existing clinical requirements.
PG Courses in Government and Private Medical Colleges
The panel recommended that government medical institutions should be permitted to start postgraduate courses alongside undergraduate courses once adequate clinical exposure is available.
For private medical colleges, it suggested that postgraduate courses could be introduced from the third operational year through streamlined resource requirements. Under the proposed model, a specialty could require as few as two faculty members, comprising one Professor and one Associate Professor or Assistant Professor, subject to adequate clinical exposure and hands-on training.
The Committee also emphasized the need to reduce the cost of medical education and expand opportunities for students from economically weaker sections of society.
To increase postgraduate training opportunities in underserved areas, the panel recommended utilizing non-traditional public clinical resources, including specialized Railway and Mines hospitals. Such facilities could help expand regional specialty training in underserved areas, particularly hilly and tribal regions.
Exit Examination Recommended for Medical Graduates and Postgraduates
To ensure uniform standards and assess professional competence, the Committee recommended an exit examination for both undergraduate and postgraduate medical students.
The panel said that such an examination should form part of efforts to ensure proficiency and maintain the quality of medical education across institutions.
Digital Monitoring of Medical Colleges
The Committee also called for stronger digital monitoring of medical institutions, highlighting concerns associated with periodic inspections.
It noted that the National Medical Commission has moved towards a continuous monitoring model under the Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations (MSMER) 2023 and Graduate Medical Education Regulations (GMER).
Under the system, institutions submit annual self-declarations through a centralized portal, while routine seat renewals and institutional approvals are increasingly handled through standardized virtual inspections.
The Committee recommended further consolidation of the centralized Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system (AEBAS), which tracks more than four lakh faculty members, students, interns and tutors across the country.
It also called for universal compliance with face-authentication upgrades introduced through the geo-fenced National Informatics Centre (NIC) mobile application to prevent the use of ghost faculty and maintain accurate employment records.
HMIS and ABHA-Based Monitoring Proposed
The panel recommended expanding the pilot Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) application programming interface (API) integration module so that clinical material assessments can be linked directly to unique patient ABHA IDs.
It further suggested using live classroom and hospital-area closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance through shared Network Video Recorder (NVR) links.
According to the Committee, such digital monitoring could help prevent manipulation of clinical workloads and the use of fake patients during institutional assessments.
Focus on Primary and Preventive Healthcare Training
The Committee also emphasized the role of the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), Post-Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) and Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) in aligning medical education with public health priorities.
It recommended that UGMEB continuously refine the Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum, with greater emphasis on primary and preventive healthcare competencies.
The panel also called for strict implementation of the Village and Family Adoption Programmes in undergraduate medical training so that future doctors are better prepared to address healthcare accessibility challenges in rural communities.
Parliamentary Panel Pushes Generic Medicines
The Committee also raised concerns over high medicine costs and their impact on patients’ out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure.
It recommended that the Ethics and Medical Registration Board strictly enforce professional conduct requirements mandating registered medical practitioners to prescribe affordable generic medicines instead of high-cost branded medicines.
The panel said pharmaceutical expenditure is a major component of catastrophic out-of-pocket healthcare spending in India and argued that greater use of unbranded generic medicines could help reduce treatment costs.
It further recommended integrating the National Medical Register with public procurement data and establishing automated grievance mechanisms through State Medical Councils to track, review and audit prescribing patterns across public and private hospitals.
The Committee noted that the NMC’s draft prescription guidelines issued in May 2022 stated that doctors should prescribe medicines using generic, non-proprietary or pharmacological names. The guidelines also advised physicians to avoid prescribing branded generic drugs, while allowing relaxation in certain exceptional cases, including medicines with a narrow therapeutic index and biosimilars.