The Ministerial Roundtable addressing on”Human Resources for Health: Equity in Specialized Care” at the 79th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia (RC79), Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda presented India’s structural transformation of its medical education and healthcare delivery systems.
Shri Nadda highlighted that since 2014, India’s medical colleges have more than doubled from 387 to 858, marking a 121.71% increase. Over the same period, undergraduate MBBS seats grew by 177.45% to reach 1,42,464, while postgraduate seats rose by 176.69% to 86,287. A national target has also been set to create 10,000 additional postgraduate seats by 2028–29, prioritizing underserved locations and shortage specialities such as Emergency Medicine, Geriatrics, Psychiatry, and Family Medicine.
The country’s diversification strategy encompasses establishing 157 new nursing colleges co-located with medical campuses to add approximately 15,700 graduates annually, alongside Nurse Practitioner Programmes across 10 critical fields. In parallel, India is training 100,000 allied health professionals across 57 regulated professions under a dedicated statutory commission. Rural and tribal reach is reinforced via Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, incentive-linked specialist deployments, and digital pathways including the eSanjeevani teleconsultation platform.
A principal outcome of the summit was the adoption of the Dili Declaration by SEARO Member States, establishing commitments toward task-sharing, AI-assisted tools, and ethical recruitment. Additionally, the WHO honored India with two Regional Public Health Achievement Awards for sustaining maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination for over a decade and achieving national benchmarks in primary-care hypertension and diabetes management.
Written by: Pragna Biswas
Graphics by: Pramit Hazra
