Central government has approved 320 new postgraduate (PG) medical seats across six government medical colleges in Himachal Pradesh, accompanied by a grant of approximately ₹415 crore. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda announced the approval on Saturday, calling it a significant achievement for medical education in the state.
The approved seats will be distributed as follows — IGMC Shimla: 91 seats, Medical College Hamirpur: 57, Nerchowk Mandi: 55, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Medical College Tanda: 57, Medical College Nahan: 32, and Medical College Chamba: 28.
Nadda stated that the central government acted swiftly on the proposal, which was received from the Himachal Pradesh government on June 23. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had also raised the matter with him on October 6 during the convocation ceremony at AIIMS Bilaspur. All 320 proposed seats have now been cleared in full.
The approval is part of a larger national initiative under which the Centre has sanctioned the addition of 10,000 new medical seats across the country over the next five years at a total cost of ₹15,000 crore.
What the additional seats mean for Himachal
Nadda said the new PG seats will strengthen specialist medical services in the state, including surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology and obstetrics, paediatrics, oncology, and other specialisations. Students from Himachal Pradesh will have greater access to higher medical education within the state, while patients in remote areas stand to benefit from increased specialist care closer to home.
Nadda urges state to act without delay
While welcoming the approval, Nadda urged the Himachal Pradesh government to complete all necessary administrative and procedural formalities in a time-bound manner so that the benefits reach students and patients at the earliest.
He also flagged slow progress on other centrally-funded projects, including critical care blocks and public health laboratories being built with central assistance, and called for expediting work on these. He further urged the state government to resolve pending issues related to its financial share and land acquisition in the Chandigarh-Baddi and Bhanupalli-Bilaspur rail projects, stating that delays in public interest projects at any level are unacceptable.
