Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda, on Tuesday, encouraged the National Medical Commission (NMC) to achieve the target of adding 75,000 medical seats set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the next five years to meet the growing demand of aspiring medical professionals.

Speaking at the 4th year anniversary ceremony of the NMC here, Nadda congratulated it on its fourth anniversary and commended it for adding 25,000 UG and PG seats during the last four years.

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He noted that the NMC achieved its target of 1,00,000 MBBS seats in the country a year in advance.

Lauding the recent technological methodologies adopted by NMC such as in assessing medical colleges through AI and introduction of Aadhar-enabled biometric attendance (AEBAS) for faculty, Nadda asked it to continue its efforts to improve and enhance the quality of medical education in the country.

He also highlighted the initiation of the National Medical Register (NMR) and said it is a dynamic database for all allopathic doctors which has already received about 20,000 applications.

The health minister said recent efforts towards serving public health, especially the Family Adoption Program will prepare MBBS students to become more humane and skillful clinicians.

He pointed out the shift in mindset to preventive healthcare and wellness.

On the occasion, Nadda released an essay compilation book titled ‘Making of a Family Physician: Reaching the Roots’ of selected 89 essays, a collage book- ‘Art of Making of a Family Physician: Reaching the Roots’ of selected 67 collages, and a First Survey report on medical camps conducted by colleges under Family Adoption Program through village outreach. The survey was carried out by 2nd year MBBS students in 2022 from 496 colleges from 28 states/ Union Territories participated.

He also felicitated the students who wrote the best essays and made the best collages.