Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced that the government would add 10,000 new seats in medical colleges and hospitals across the country in the next financial year.
Overall, 75,000 new medical seats would be added in five years.
This apart, Sitharaman announced that additional capacity of 6,500 seats will be created in five Indian Institute of Technology (IIT’s) established after 2014.
As for expanding capacity of medical education, the government has added almost 1.1 lakh undergraduate and postgraduate medical education seats in 10 years, an increase of 130 per cent, she said.
Similarly, she said that 23 IIT’s have recorded a rise in number of students, from 65,000 in 2014 to over 1.35 lakh students, a 100 per cent jump. Campus and hostel expansion will also be undertaken at IIT Patna. Sitharaman also announced a PM Research Fellowship Scheme for IIT’s and Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
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In line with the Economic Survey, which highlighted that AI can increasingly play a role in education, the FM said that the government plans to set up 50,000 more Atal Labs, Centres of Excellence for AI in education. The government would set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for artificial intelligence (AI) in education for an outlay of ~500 crore.
The government would now set up 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL’s) in government secondary schools.
“These labs would be set up in the next five years to cultivate the spirit of curiosity and innovation and foster a scientific temper among young minds,” she said in her Budget speech.
