New Delhi: The Union Minister of State for Health, Smt. Anupriya Patel, recently shared key data in Parliament regarding patient bed capacity and other infrastructure requirements mandated for medical colleges based on MBBS seat intake.
According to the UG-Minimum Standard Requirements (UG-MSR), medical colleges must maintain a specific number of patient beds aligned with their MBBS student intake. For colleges admitting 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 students, the respective bed requirements are 220, 420, 605, 770, and 900. Additionally, the required daily OPD count is 400 for 50 seats, increasing to 2000 for 250 seats. The number of major operation theatres (OTs) also scales from 4 for 50 MBBS seats to 11 for 250 seats, with one minor OT required per surgical specialty.
These details were provided in response to questions raised by Lok Sabha MP Shri Kalyan Banerjee, who sought clarity on efforts to align with the WHO-recommended doctor-population ratio of 1:1000, and how the National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines address quality and regional disparity.
The Minister informed that since 2014, the government has expanded medical infrastructure substantially, increasing the number of medical colleges from 387 to 780, UG seats from 51,348 to 1,15,900, and PG seats from 31,185 to 74,306.
Based on NMC data, there are currently 13,86,157 registered allopathic doctors. Additionally, 7,51,768 AYUSH practitioners are registered under the Ministry of AYUSH. Assuming 80% availability of both categories, the current doctor-population ratio is estimated at 1:811.
To ensure the quality of medical education and infrastructure, the MSR-2023 outlines detailed departmental bed strength per seat category. For example, for 250 seats, the General Medicine department should have 225 beds, Pediatrics 125, General Surgery 200, Orthopedics 100, and OB-GYN 125, along with 30 ICU beds. Similarly, other departments like ENT, Psychiatry, Dermatology, and Ophthalmology must meet specific bed counts proportionally.
In addition, the minister outlined several government initiatives aimed at reducing regional disparities. These include centrally sponsored schemes for establishing new medical colleges by upgrading district hospitals, strengthening existing institutions, and constructing super-specialty blocks under PMSSY. Of the 157 approved new medical colleges, 131 are already functional. Under the Central Sector Scheme, 22 new AIIMS have been approved, with 19 already offering undergraduate courses.
These measures collectively aim to improve accessibility to quality medical education and healthcare across underserved and aspirational districts in India.
