Bengal to increase no. of MBBS seats from next academic session

Kolkata: The number of MBBS seats in the state is soon going to be increased by 600 giving a boost to the existing health infrastructure of Bengal. There are currently around 4,225 MBBS seats in the state. If everything goes as per plan, an additional 600 undergraduate medical seats will be added within the next academic year — taking the total number of MBBS seats to 4,825 — sources in the Health department said.

The number of MBBS seats stood at 900 till 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee government came to power for the first time.

There are around 27 medical colleges in the state out of which 20 are government-run while the remaining colleges are owned by private groups. Six hospitals across the state have been upgraded into full-fledged medical colleges and each will have 100 MBBS seats from the next academic year. These six hospitals are situated in Barasat, Uluberia, Arambag, Tamluk, Jhargram, Jalpaiguri.

After coming to power, the Mamata Banerjee government laid huge emphasis on the health infrastructure, including seat hike in various medical colleges.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also urged the Centre on a number of occasions to increase medical seats in Bengal. The need for more doctors was felt after the pandemic. During the Covid waves, the state needed more hospitals which would mean more beds.

In February this year, the state government decided to increase 650 post-graduate medical seats in Bengal, which will eventually strengthen the health infrastructure. Around 17 medical colleges across Bengal are going to get new seats. The Centre has given clearance to the state government's proposal. The Chief Minister in January 2022 had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase medical seats in the state.