Madhya Pradesh to Add 2500 MBBS Seats in Medical Colleges Over Next Four Years

To address the shortage of doctors, the central budget has proposed increasing 75,000 seats over the next five years, with 10,000 seats being added in the 2025-26 session. Madhya Pradesh will have a significant share in these additions. The state plans to establish a medical college in every district. In the next three years, 12 new medical colleges will be opened, with colleges in Rajgarh, Budhni, Damoh, Singrauli, and Shyopur starting as early as the next session (2025-26). Each college will have 150 MBBS seats.

In the 2026-27 session, medical colleges will open in Mandla, Dhar, Chhatarpur, followed by colleges in Ujjain, Chhatarpur, Sidhi, and Tikamgarh. These new colleges will collectively offer more than 2,000 MBBS seats. In addition to these, the state is also working on launching medical colleges in 14 districts under public-private partnership (PPP) models.

The budget has also announced the opening of daycare centers in every district of the country over the next three years. In 2025-26, 200 daycare centers will be established, which will greatly benefit cancer patients. The first phase of these centers will include district hospitals in all divisional headquarters. These daycare centers will offer chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and other treatments to cancer patients, who will be admitted for day-care treatments. Currently, only AIIMS offers such facilities in the state's government hospitals.

In addition, 36 cancer drugs will be exempted from customs duties, and 37 drugs will be included in the patient assistance program, which will benefit cancer patients in Madhya Pradesh. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) cancer registry program, more than 40,000 people in the state are diagnosed with cancer every year.