Srinagar, Aug 07 (KNO): Jammu and Kashmir has 12 medical colleges offering a total of 1,875 MBBS seats, including 11 government medical colleges with 1,725 seats and one private medical college with 150 seats, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.
As per the reply by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel to an unstarred question raised by MP Anto Antony, the figures are based on the State/UT-wise data as on July 30, 2026.
The ministry, as reported by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said Jammu and Kashmir has 11 government medical colleges with an approved capacity of 1,725 MBBS seats, while one private medical college has 150 MBBS seats, taking the total number of colleges to 12 and total MBBS seats to 1,875.
Anto Antony had sought details of students appearing in NEET-UG and NEET-PG, the number of medical colleges and MBBS seats State/UT-wise, seats per million population, faculty vacancies in AIIMS and other Central Government medical institutions, and steps taken to ensure equitable expansion of medical education.
In response, Patel said the number of medical colleges across the country has increased from 387 to 846, while undergraduate medical seats have risen from 51,348 to 1,39,864 and postgraduate seats from 31,185 to 86,360 between 2014 and July 2026.
The minister said filling vacant faculty posts is a continuous process and depends on factors including availability of qualified candidates, reservation roster and location-specific requirements of institutions.
"The government has constituted Standing Selection Committees in each AIIMS for faculty recruitment, allowed engagement of retired faculty on contract up to 70 years of age and introduced a Visiting Faculty Scheme to augment teaching resources," Patel said.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has also framed the Medical Institutions (Qualification of Faculty) Regulation, 2025 to address faculty shortages, while provisions under the Compulsory Rotatory Medical Internship Regulations require interns to be paid stipends fixed by the appropriate authority.
The NMC, through a public notice issued on March 12, 2026, also reiterated regulatory provisions and directions regarding payment of stipends and asked Deans, Principals, State Medical Councils and Directorates of Medical Education to ensure compliance.
The ministry said the government has implemented various schemes for equitable expansion of medical education, including a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for establishment of new medical colleges by upgrading district or referral hospitals.
Under the scheme, 139 new medical colleges out of 157 approved have become functional. Another Centrally Sponsored Scheme focuses on strengthening and upgrading existing State and Central Government medical colleges to increase MBBS and postgraduate seats.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), 71 of 75 projects for upgrading Government medical colleges through super-speciality blocks and trauma care centres have been completed, while 22 new AIIMS have been approved.
Meanwhile, the ministry said 19,99,895 candidates appeared for NEET-UG in 2026, while the NEET-PG examination for 2026 is scheduled to be held on August 30, 2026.
The number of NEET-UG candidates appearing increased from 14,10,755 in 2019 to 23,33,297 in 2024, before standing at 22,09,318 in 2025. NEET-PG candidates increased from 1,43,148 in 2019 to 2,30,114 in 2025—(KNO)