The government of Andhra Pradesh has released a sum of Rs.79 crore to 10 government medical colleges to improve infrastructure facilities and other basic requirements in the medical colleges in the state. With this decision, the government has now paved a clear way for the Medical Council of India (MCI) to grant additional 500 MBBS seats for the coming academic year 2012-13.

Earlier, the state government had delayed the grant of its share due to unknown reason, because of which the MBBS aspirants in the state feared that their chances of getting MBBS seats will be ruined. In fact, the Union health ministry has agreed to increase the seats in seven old government colleges earlier, provided the state government provides the necessary infrastructure and facilities that will meet the norms stipulated by the MCI for enhancing the intake. As part of Central governments share, the Union ministry has already released Rs.60 crore.

“Thought the decision of granting the state’s share by the government had come late, but it had come in the right time without which the Medical council would have stopped granting 500 more seats to the state,” said a spokesperson from the AP Medical Education department.

With this grant, now the Medical college administrations are hurrying up to upgrade and build new infrastructure to accommodate the additional intake. They feel there is very little time for them and it is difficult for them to create necessary infrastructure facilities by March 2012 during which the MCI is scheduled to commence inspections of Medical colleges to approve the additional intake.

Additional infrastructure facilities are expected to come up in Osmania Medical College, Gandhi medical College, Andhra medical college, Kurnool Medical College, S V Medical College in Tirupathi, Kakatiya Medical College in Warangal, Ananthapur Medical College, MNR Medical College in Medak, Mamatha Medical College in Khammam and Guntur Medical College.

There are about 4500 medical seats in Andhra Pradesh. About 60,000 qualified candidates are qualified every year in Engineering Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET).

Based on the new MCI guidelines the seats will be allocated proportionate to the hospital bed capacity and the faculty strength of the college. For instance, Osmania Medical College, with a bed strength of 6,000, currently has 200 seats. They would be able to add fifty more seats. Similarly, Gandhi Medical College and Warangal Medical College, with 1100 beds and 1200 beds respectively, can increase their intakes by fifty to hundred, depending upon their faculty strength.