Vidarbha Now Has 11 GMCs, 1,700+ MBBS Seats; Every District Has Medical College

Nagpur: In a significant development for Vidarbha region, five new Government Medical Colleges (GMCs) were dedicated to the public on Wednesday in a single day. This brings the total number of GMCs in Vidarbha to 11. With the addition of the new GMCs, the total number of MBBS seats in state-run medical colleges in Vidarbha now stands at 1,650.
This figure is further boosted by the 125 MBBS seats available at AIIMS Nagpur, taking the grand total to 1,775.
The newly established GMCs are located at Buldhana, Washim, Amravati, Bhandara, and Gadchiroli. Each college has been sanctioned 100 MBBS seats, adding a total of 500 new MBBS seats to the region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had virtually inaugurated the five GMCs in Vidarbha on Wednesday. The region already has GMCs at Akola, Yavatmal, Chandrapur, Gondia, and there are two GMCs in Nagpur. In this way, now all district headquarters in Vidarbha, excluding Wardha, have a government medical college.
However, Wardha already has the trust-run Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS), India's first rural medical college, and also the Datta Meghe Medical College, a private medical college.
Apart from this, Nagpur has two private medical colleges, and Amravati also has one. Private medical colleges in Vidarbha also contribute to the region's medical education capacity, offering approximately 300 MBBS seats. Together, the MBBS seats in the region have surpassed the 2,000 mark now. Experts in the field said that this development has some short-term as well as many long-term benefits.
"While the newly established GMCs may not have their own hospitals or buildings immediately, they will still provide significant benefits to patients," said Dr Vipul Ambade, dean of GMCH Bhandara. "These colleges will initially function from existing district hospitals, allowing MBBS students and their faculty to contribute to patient care and improve healthcare services in the region," he added. However, in the future, these colleges will also get their own buildings and hospitals.
In the coming two to three years, the GMCs will be equipped with 400 to 450-bed hospitals. This will provide these districts with fulfledged medical facilities. For example, Bhandara has already allocated 25 acres land for its medical college at Paladi village, and Amravati has also secured land near Nandgaonpeth. The GMCs at Washim and Buldhana will initially operate from the district hospitals, which have been taken over by the directorate of medical education and research (DMER). The GMC at Gadchiroli will function from the state-of-the-art regional hospital. All these colleges will be attached to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS).
BOX
Existing Medical Colleges and Seat:
- GMCH Nagpur: 250 seats
- IGGMCH Nagpur: 200 seats
- SVNGMCH Yavatmal: 200 seats
- GMCH Akola: 200 seats
- GMCH Chandrapur: 150 seats
- GMCH Gondia: 150 seats
New GMCs Inaugurated and Seat:
- GMCH Gadchiroli: 100 seats
- GMCH Washim: 100 seats
- GMCH Buldhana: 100 seats
- GMCH Amravati: 100 seats
- GMCH Bhandara: 100 seats
OTHER MED COLLEGES
AIIMS Nagpur has 125 seats (not run by state govt)
Private medical colleges have 300+ MBBS seats in Vidarbha