New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry has approved 50 new medical colleges across India during the current financial year, said top health ministry sources. Telangana bagged 13 medical colleges whereas Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan bagged 5 MBBS colleges each. Amongst the 50 medical colleges, 29 are government, seven are private and 14 medical colleges will be run by trusts and society.
Following the approval of 50 medical colleges, there is an increase of 6,300 more undergraduate seats and taking the total number of such seats in the country past 1,07,658.
The 50 medical colleges have been approved in Telangana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Nagaland, Maharashtra, Assam, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Many approved colleges have been sanctioned with 150, 100 and 50 seats. With the addition of these 50 colleges, the number of medical colleges in the country now stands at 702.
Meanwhile, of the total 38 medical colleges across India that have been barred by the National Medical Commission (NMC) from admitting new students after they were found violating basic norms set by the undergraduate medical education board of the NMC, 24 appealed to the NMC while six have approached to the health ministry after proper rectification.
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“All these medical colleges can appeal to the concerned authority (first NMC then Health Ministry) after all rectification is done at their end,” sources said. Meanwhile, the NMC has also issued show cause notice to 102 more medical colleges after they were found violating the norms set by the NMC.
Many of the colleges were found complying with the norms such as lapses in security, especially CCTV installation, Aadhar linked biometric attendance among others. In another development, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has banned 14 fixed-dose combination drugs (FDC) after it was found that these drugs were not tested for efficacy and safety putting the patients at risk.
“The decision was taken after the subject expert committee (SEC) of CDSCO found drawbacks following detailed deliberations from the manufacturing companies,” the sources said. The CDSCO is the apex drug regulatory authority in India. An FDC is the combination of two or more drugs in certain fixed dose combinations. If it is found for the first time, it will fall under the definition of a new drug.
All new drugs require prior clearance and permission from the central licensing authority before issuance of a manufacturing license from the State Licensing Authority. Some of the dose combination drugs are Nimesulide+ paracetamol dispersible tablets, Amoxicilin+ Bromhexine, and chlorpheniramine Maleate + Codeine syrup among others.
