Punjab may have to wait till ’26 for new government medical college

In a setback for MBBS aspirants in the state, no new government medical college is to come up in Punjab until 2026. This is because the state government won’t be able to apply to the National Medical Council (NMC), the apex governing body in medical education, for permission to start new medical colleges as the work on the two proposed medical colleges in Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala won’t be completed by the last date of applying for the next academic session 2025-26.

The last date of applying for the new medical college falls in October every year. “The work will start in the coming months. It was the election code of conduct owing to the recently held parliamentary elections that the authorities concerned couldn’t award the work to a contractor to upgrade the civil hospitals in Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur to fulfil the requirements of establishing a medical college. Given the pending construction work of new medical colleges by the last date for application (October) for the next year’s session, it will be very difficult for us to start new medical colleges until 2026,” said a senior official of the Punjab Department of Medical Education and Research, seeking anonymity.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, during its first budget in 2022, had announced that 16 medical colleges would be opened in its five-year tenure. Punjab chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Singh Mann had then claimed that it (opening medical colleges) would stop the students of Punjab going to countries, such as Ukraine, to pursue the MBBS course. Every year, a large number of students from Punjab go abroad for it, the CM had said.

Currently, there are only four state-run medical colleges against six private medical colleges, having nearly 60 per cent of the total MBBS seats in Punjab.

Dr BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences in Mohali was the last government medical college in Punjab which was started in 2021 under the previous Congress government. The medical college in Mohali had come up after a gap of 48 years.

When asked about opening of new government medical colleges, Priyank Bharti, principal secretary, medical education, said, “Given the amount of construction work left to start new medical colleges, we will not be able to apply for permission to start new ones this year. We will try to apply to the NMC for permission next year.”

Punjab medical education minister Dr Balbir Singh said, “When the upgrade work starts, I will personally monitor the progress and expedite the work. As both the colleges will be an upgradation of the already functioning district hospitals, the construction work isn’t much and will be completed as soon as possible.”