Govt nod to hike MBBS seats to implement EWS quota

Bhubaneswar: The state government on Thursday gave its nod to implement 10% quota for economically weaker sections (EWS) in medical institutions from this academic year. To make it work, the government approved increasing MBBS seats in the state by 150 and post graduate (MD/MS) intake by 148. But the final call on increasing the exact number of seats would be taken by the Medical Council of India’s (MCI)s board of governors, sources said.
“The government has given in-principle approval for the proposal to implement the quota. Further modalities will be worked out soon,” health secretary Pramod Meherda told TOI.
Sources said the government has given its nod to increase MBBS seats at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Education and Research (VIMSAR), Burla, by 50 from its current capacity of 150. Similarly, 25 seats are going to be added to each of the medical colleges in Koraput, Baripada, Balasore and Balangir, taking the total intake to 125.
The move follows a Union government directive wherein 10% EWS quota in general category needs to be implemented in higher education institutions. With the admission process under NEET scheduled to start soon, the states had to send their proposals to the MCI so that they can sync the intake capacity in various medical institutions with the Centre’s rules.
Since the number of seats at SCB Medical College, Cuttack and MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur are already 250 each — the maximum allowed to any medical college under MCI norms — increasing their intake would not be possible, a government official said.
The state has also given its nod to increase post graduate seats at SCB, MKCG and VIMSAR by 148. If the MCI board approves the proposal, the number of MBBS seats in state-run medical institutions will go up from 1,050 to 1,200 and PG intake from 468 to 616.
The state had to come up with a revised proposal after withdrawing an earlier approval on seat increase sent to the MCI board on June 4 as the same was not as per the medical education regulator’s suggested formula. In the withdrawn approval, the state had suggested increasing MBBS seats by 105 and PG seats by 50.
It must be mentioned that AIIMS Bhubaneswar, a central government-run institute, has already decided to increase its intake from 100 to 125 this year.
EoM