India Has 86,360 Postgraduate Medical Seats, Centre Plans 5,000 More: Health Ministry

New Delhi: India currently has 86,360 postgraduate medical seats across the country, with Karnataka accounting for the highest number at 10,092, the Union Health Ministry informed the Lok Sabha this week.

The ministry said the Centre plans to add approximately 5,000 more postgraduate seats going forward, as part of continuing efforts to expand the country's medical education capacity and address the shortage of specialist doctors.

The government also clarified that there is currently no proposal to introduce a fresh central scheme specifically targeting postgraduate seat expansion beyond existing mechanisms, according to the ministry's written response.

The seat expansion comes amid sustained demand from medical aspirants and professional bodies for more postgraduate capacity, given the gap between the number of MBBS graduates each year and the significantly smaller number of postgraduate seats available through NEET-PG.