Lok Sabha Question No. 1594 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-10
Subject: Shortage of Doctors
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Bharatiben Dhirubhai Shyal, Arvind Kumar Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1594 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 10 TH  FEBRUARY, 2023

## SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS

## 1594.   DR. BHARATIBEN DHIRUBHAISHIYAL: DR. ARVIND KUMAR SHARMA:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there is shortage of Doctors despite increase in MBBS seats in the country;
- (b) if so, the steps taken/likely to be taken by the Government to maintain doctors-seats ratio;
- (c) the number of medical colleges sanctioned for setting up with financial assistance from the Government during the last five years;
- (d) the number of such medical colleges operational as on date, State/UT-wise; and
- (e) the number of post-graduate medical seats increased during the last five years?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

(a)  to  (e):  As  per  information  provided  by  National  Medical  Commission  (NMC),  there  are 13,08,009  allopathic  doctors  registered  with  the  State  Medical  Councils  and  the  National Medical  Commission  (NMC)  as  on  June,  2022.  Assuming  80%  availability  of  registered allopathic doctors and 5.65 lakh AYUSH doctors, the doctor-population ratio in the country is 1:834.

The Government has increased number of medical colleges and subsequently increased MBBS seats. There is an increase of 69% in Medical Colleges from 387 before 2014 to 655 as of now. Further, there is an increase of 95% in MBBS seats from 51348 before 2014 to 100163 as of now and increase of 110% in PG seats from 31185 before 2014 to 65335 as of now.

The  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare  administers  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme (CSS)  for  'Establishment  of  new  Medical  Colleges  attached  with  existing  district/  referral hospitals'  with  preference  to  underserved  areas  and  aspirational  districts,  where  there  is  no existing  Government  or  private  medical  college.  Under  the  scheme,  a  total  of  157  medical colleges have been sanctioned in three phases with fund sharing between the Centre and State Governments in the ratio of 90:10 for North eastern and Special Category states and 60:40 for others, out of which 104 Medical Colleges have been approved in the last five years (2017-2022) and  46  Medical  Colleges  have  become  operational.  The  State/UT-wise  details  of  operational medical colleges under the Scheme during the last five years (2017-2022) is as under:-

|   SI. No. | Name of State/ UT   |   Number of operational medical colleges under Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) |
|-----------|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Chhattisgarh        |                                                                              03 |
|         2 | Gujarat             |                                                                              05 |
|         3 | Jammu and Kashmir   |                                                                              01 |
|         4 | Karnataka           |                                                                              04 |
|         5 | Madhya Pradesh      |                                                                              01 |
|         6 | Maharashtra         |                                                                              01 |
|         7 | Manipur             |                                                                              01 |
|         8 | Punjab              |                                                                              01 |
|         9 | Rajasthan           |                                                                              04 |
|        10 | Tamil Nadu          |                                                                              11 |
|        11 | Uttar Pradesh       |                                                                              08 |
|        12 | West Bengal         |                                                                              06 |

The Ministry also provides financial support to existing government medical colleges for Civil Works and procurement of equipment & furniture under Centrally Sponsored Schemes for upgradation of existing State Government/ Central Government Medical Colleges for increasing MBBS (UG) seats and PG seats. In these schemes fund sharing between the Centre and State Governments is in the ratio of 90:10 for North eastern and Special Category states and 60:40 for others. Under these schemes, support has been provided for increase of 4677 MBBS seats in 77 colleges with an approved cost of Rs. 5612.25 Cr, 4058 PG seats in Phase-I in 72 colleges with an  approved  cost  of  Rs.  1498.43  Cr  and  3858  PG  seats  in  Phase-II  in  60  colleges  with  an approved cost of Rs. 4343.66 Cr.

The  measures/steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  increase  doctor-patient  ratio  in  the Country include:-

- i. Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  establishment  of  new  medical  college  by  upgrading district/ referral hospital under which 94 new medical colleges are already functional out of 157 approved.
- ii. Centrally Sponsored Scheme for strengthening/ upgradation of existing State Government/Central Government Medical Colleges to increase MBBS and PG seats.
- iii. Under 'Upgradation of Government Medical Colleges by construction of Super Specialty Blocks' of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) scheme, a total of 75 projects have been approved, of which 60 projects are complete.
- iv. Under the  Central  Sector  Scheme  for  setting  up  of  new  AIIMS,  22  AIIMS  have  been approved. Undergraduate courses have started in 19 of these.
- v. Relaxation in the norms for setting up of Medical College in terms of requirement  for faculty, staff, bed strength and other infrastructure.
- vi. DNB  qualification  has  been  recognized  for  appointment  as  faculty  to  take  care  of shortage of faculty.
- vii. Enhancement of age limit  for  appointment/  extension/  re-employment  against  posts  of teachers/Dean/Principal/ Director in medical colleges upto 70 years.

The  number  of  post-graduate  medical  seats  increased  during  the  last  five  years  is  as under:-

| Academic Year   |   Increase in PG seats (including DNB and CPS seats) |
|-----------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| 2018-19         |                                                 2924 |
| 2019-20         |                                                 4620 |
| 2020-21         |                                                 8368 |
| 2021-22         |                                                 4707 |
| 2022-23         |                                                 3857 |

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