The National Medical Commission (NMC) has granted approval for the second-year MBBS program at Konni Government Medical College and Idukki Medical College in Kerala, providing a positive development for medical students in the region. Idukki Medical College initially admitted 50 MBBS students under the previous Congress-UDF government.

During the LDF government’s administration, the Medical Council of India (MCI) withdrew its recognition of Idukki Medical College in 2016, citing insufficient resources such as inadequate beds, academic buildings, staff, and housing facilities for students and employees. Subsequently, students enrolled at the college were relocated to Alappuzha Medical College.

In 2020, Dr. RK Vats, the secretary-general of the MCI Board of Governors, sent a letter to Idukki Medical College outlining seven issues and discrepancies in the college’s management, such as low resident numbers (58%), low bed occupancy rates (29.3%), inadequate faculty numbers (18%), and deficiencies in the hospital’s clinical laboratory and radiology services. Eventually, in the previous year, the NMC authorized Idukki Medical College to admit 100 MBBS students.

GMC Konni had also been seeking NMC approval for several years. In 2021, the Medical Education Department of Kerala requested the Apex Medical Commission’s permission to commence MBBS admissions at GMC Konni. Last year, the NMC finally granted approval for GMC Konni to admit 100 MBBS students.

According to a recent report by the Times of India, the NMC has authorized Konni and Idukki medical colleges to admit students into their second-year MBBS program. The report further states that since taking office, the LDF government has invested approximately Rs 250 crore in the development of these two medical colleges.

Union MoS Health, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, has revealed that Kerala has a total of 33 medical colleges with a capacity to admit 4605 MBBS students. Out of these, 12 government medical colleges offer 1755 MBBS seats, while the remaining 2850 MBBS seats are available at 21 medical colleges managed by private institutions.