The Union Health Ministry banned 82 medical colleges from accepting students for its academic session 2018-19.

The ministry, through an announcement on May 31, stopped 12 government and 70 private medical colleges from taking in new students for the upcoming batch, blocking anywhere between 10,000 to 12,000 MBBS seats.

The government also denied permission for the establishment of 68 new medical colleges, 31 government and 37 private, axing another potential 9000 MBBS seats.

MEDICAL COLLEGES BARRED FROM STARTING NEW SPECIALTY COURSES

Another announcement on Thursday barred 31 medical colleges from either starting new super specialty courses such as those in cardiology, nephrology, plastic surgery, etc. or expanding seats in existing courses.

The list included well known government colleges such as Lucknow's King George Medical College University, stopped from expanding or starting MCh (Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery) and MCh (Neurosurgery), Christian Medical College Vellore, disallowed courses in MCh (Reproductive Medicine& Surgery), DM (Nephrology), DM (Pediatrics Neurology), Institute of Liver & Billiary Sciences, New Delhi, disallowed DM (Hepatology), MCh (HPB Surgery) and DM (Pediatrics Hepatology), etc.

DECISION TAKEN AFTER ASSESSMENT BY MCI

The decisions came after assessment by the Medical Council of India, the apex government body in charge of medical education and ethics.

The loss of seats is bound to hit the lakhs of aspiring medical students, already fighting for seats that are not nearly enough in number to accommodate all of them

The Union cabinet had in February approved plans to set up 24 new government-funded medical colleges by 2021-22, in addition to 58 medical colleges that were to be established and attached to district hospitals by 2019.