“We want to build such an education system in India that youngsters do not need to go abroad to study. In fact, we would want foreign students to come here and study,” said Modi, in his address, at the 78th Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi. 

Though India has set the ambition of enrolling over 500,000 international students by 2047, currently over 47,000 of them study in the country. 

The majority of the international students in India hail from South Asian countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. 

We want to build such an education system in India that youngsters do not need to go abroad to study.

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.

According to Ravi Lochan Singh, managing director, Global Reach and president, AAERI, the problem does not lie in India’s quality of education. 

“I feel lack of quality education is not the main reason why Indians study overseas. Some aspiring for top brands or those aiming at research at ranked universities are always there, the majority of students use overseas education as a pathway to work and settle overseas. So what India needs to work on is to create more and more jobs and employment opportunities suiting all disciplines,” said Singh. 

Modi further outlined the government’s plan to introduce 75,000 new medical seats in India in the next five years. 

“Every year, around 25,000 youths move to other nations for medical education. Some students move to such countries, which makes me worry a lot. So we have decided that in the next five years, 75,000 new seats will be created in medical colleges in India,” Modi said in his speech at Red Fort. 

“Even today, children, mostly belonging to the middle class, are going abroad for medical education. They spend lakhs and crores on medical education abroad.” 

With the Russia-Ukraine war leading to many Indian students avoiding both countries, China, the Philippines, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Poland have emerged as alternative destinations for medical education.

As per the data released by the health ministry, undergraduate and postgraduate seats have doubled in India in the past 10 years. 

While there were 51,348 seats for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery courses in 2013/14, this number increased to 108,940 in 2023/24. 

Similarly, PG seats increased to 70,674 in 2023/24 from 31,185 seats in 2013/14. 

“We have expanded the health infrastructure by sanctioning an increase in the number of hospitals. We have also announced an increase in the number of MBBS seats in medical colleges so that our children can fulfil their dream of serving the nation as doctors,” stated Modi. 

Though the rise in medical seats across India can be attributed to relaxations in medical infrastructure and facilities, they cannot be beneficial until systemic issues are addressed. 

“Even AIIMS-like institutions are struggling to get their posts filled and have good faculty. So opening colleges or increasing seats without the accompanying infrastructure and budgets could be counterproductive,” former union health secretary Sujatha Rao told digital news outlet The Print. 

“What is urgently needed is a more clear and nuanced strategy for addressing the issue of shortages of HR in the medical system, no knee-jerk responses.”