Shimla, August 1 (IANS): In a setback for Himachal Pradesh, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has turned down its request to increase 50 undergraduate seats each in two government medical colleges in the state, an official said here Thursday.

The MCI's board of governors refused to grant permission to increase seats in the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) here and the Dr. Rajendra Prasad Medical College at Tanda in Kangra district, in a meeting in Delhi Wednesday.

Both colleges wanted to increase the seats from 100 to 150, an official at the directorate of medical education and research told IANS.

The MCI said the IGMCH was not yet recognised for increased seats from 65 to 100. Likewise, the Tanda medical college is not recognised for increased seats from 50 to 100.

In 2009, the MCI allowed the IGMCH to increase undergraduate seats, while the Tanda college got the approval for this in 2011.

The MCI, at its meeting Wednesday, increased the MBBS seats in three colleges in Jammu and Kashmir - the Government Medical College in Jammu and Srinagar (100 to 150 each) and the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Medical College at Bemina in Srinagar (50 to 100).

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh last month said the state had requested the central government to increase undergraduate seats in both government medical colleges.

"We are quite hopeful that the Medical Council of India would soon accord its approval," he told reporters here July 16.