NMC Rules: 900 Beds, 2000 OPDs Must for 250 MBBS Seats, Says Health Minister

The Union Minister of State for Health, Smt. Anupriya Patel, recently presented Parliament with the updated UG-Minimum Standard Requirements (UG MSR), which underpins the National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines for MBBS seat allocation—a move aimed at bolstering educational quality and healthcare infrastructure in medical colleges.

What the Guidelines Specify

To qualify for MBBS seats, medical colleges must now meet precise infrastructure standards in terms of bed count, outpatient capacity, and operating facilities. Here’s the breakdown:

Department-Specific Bed Requirements (for 250 MBBS Seats):

• General Medicine: 225 beds

• Pediatrics: 125 beds

• Dermatology: 10 beds

• Psychiatry: 25 beds

• General Surgery: 200 beds

• Orthopedics: 100 beds

• ENT: 30 beds

• Ophthalmology: 30 beds

• Obstetrics & Gynecology: 125 beds

• ICUs: 30 beds

The Rationale Behind These Numbers

When questioned by MP Shri Kalyan Banerjee on whether India would ramp up medical seats to hit WHO recommended doctor-population ratios (1:1000) and NMC-reported ratios (1:856), the Minister emphasized this infrastructure policy framework as the foundation for ensuring quality training while expanding capacity.

Since 2014, the government has ramped up efforts significantly:

• Medical colleges: from 387 to 780

• UG seats: from 51,348 to 1,15,900

• PG seats: from 31,185 to 74,306

As of now, India has around 13.86 lakh registered allopathic doctors and 7.52 lakh AYUSH practitioners, estimating a doctor-to-population ratio of approximately 1:811.

Expanding Medical Education with Equity

To bridge regional disparities and boost access, several schemes are underway:

• Upgrading district/referral hospitals into medical colleges—131 of the planned 157 colleges are already functional.

• Enhancing existing State/Central government medical colleges to accommodate more MBBS/PG seats.

• Super Speciality Block construction under PMSSY—71 out of 75 projects completed.

• New AIIMS campuses—22 approved, with undergraduate courses launched in 19.