PM Approves Establishment Of 157 Govt Nursing Colleges; To Open In Next 24 Months

The Cabinet Committee chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has passed the move to establish 157 government nursing colleges. These soon to get established nursing colleges will be co-located with the existing medical colleges established by the Modi government since 2014. The move taken by the government aims to graduate approximately 15,700 nursing students every year. This will further increase the job prospectus of the nurses in the country and improve rural- urban imbalances in the health sector.

Speaking at a press conference, Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya said the ministry plans to complete the project within next 24 months. Besides this, they have laid out a detailed timelines for every stage of planning and execution of the project. The government has sanctioned a total budget of Rs  1,570 crore for setting up of these nursing colleges. In the conference, Mansukh Mandaviya said “for each medical college and school, the Government of India plans on opening a new nursing college.”

The state government and union territories are tasked to keep the Union Health Ministry informed on a regular basis about the physical progress of the work.  In the press conference the union Health minister said “For each medical college in India, a budget of Rs 10 crores will be allocated for the setting up of a new nursing institute.” The institute will have training of all the three types of nursing- – Midwifery, General Midwifery and BSc Nursing.

The health minister noted that because Indian nurses’ services are highly valued abroad, it is critical to bring Indian nursing education up to par with international standards in order to promote their mobility and improve career prospects. “They are recognised as highly skilled professionals and drive the healthcare delivery system, but their numerical strength is below global norms and needs to be adequately enhanced,’’ Dr Mansukh Mandaviya said.

Later the central government issued a release stating that the government has increased the number of medical colleges and MBBS seats in last few years. Citing government data, the release mentioned, there is an increase of around 71% in medical colleges from 387 before 2014 to 660 as of now. This increase has doubled the MBBS and postgraduate seats since 2013-14. In the budget presentation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed establishment of 157 nursing colleges in the country.

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