Skewed medical aspirants: seat ratio worrying

MUMBAI: Less than one in 50 aspirants who took the state medical entrance test this year will get an MBBS seat in a government college. Even as the count of new candidates rose by over 45,000 this year and has been rising by 20% every year, the number of affordable seats has remained highly skewed.
The latest addition of R N Cooper Hospital’s 150 MBBS seats is like a drop in the ocean, say experts. Nearly 2 lakh students who vied for the 2,700 MBBS seats in the state are gutted with the Medical Council of India’s decision to deny permission to two new state-owned medical colleges at Chandrapur and Gondia.They would have added 200 government seats.
“Majority of students would like to study in a government medical college not just because of the affordability, but also the sheer volume of patients. But owing to lack of affordable seats, many are pushed to private colleges where quality of education is not the same,” said Govind Mahadik, who appeared for MH-CET for the second time.
The state said increasing the number of seats is not easy. “It involves getting skilled and unskilled manpower and creating infrastructure with timely flow of funds,” said Dr Mansingh Pawar, joint director of DMER.
The MCI had, in a one-time gesture, granted 500 seats to 10 state medical colleges, but getting annual renewals have not been easy. This year, MCI withheld renewal for 50 seats citing lack of adequate faculty in Kolhapur.