Cities Flooded With Doctors, Villages Face Acute Shortage
Experts say more seats alone won’t fix doctor shortages in rural India
Hyderabad: A parliamentary standing committee has flagged serious regional imbalances in the availability of MBBS seats across India.
According to the committee’s report, the national average stands at 75 MBBS seats per 10 lakh population. However, medical experts point out that though southern states such as Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have nearly 150 MBBS seats per 10 lakh people, stark disparities persist in healthcare delivery.
Abdul Rab Arif, a medical counselling expert, questioned why seats in naturopathy and Unani courses remain vacant every year. He said that despite admission deadlines nearing, unfilled seats should be converted into open category seats as per a Supreme Court judgment.
“Even this year, nearly 14 seats are vacant, but KNRUHS never responds,” he alleged.
Another expert noted that increasing the number of MBBS seats alone is not the solution.
“Nearly 90 per cent of doctors prefer working in cities, while villages and districts are neglected. Preventive and secondary care are crucial, but the system is collapsing,” he said, stressing the need for mandatory regulations by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
He cited seasonal childhood illnesses as an example where the lack of doctors in rural areas severely affects healthcare.
Dr G. Srinivas, vice-chairman, Telangana Medical Council, said the focus should also be on private medical colleges. “Out of 64 medical colleges in the state, 35 are government-run, and 29 are private. Vacancies are largely in private colleges, and they must be filled,” he said.
He added that improving infrastructure, hostels, libraries and the availability of assistant professors would enhance the quality of education and strengthen public health services, enabling super-speciality care even at district hospitals.
