National medical register struggling to get off the ground

National medical register struggling to get off the ground

Rema.nagarajan@timesofindia.com 01.07.2025

Another doctor’s day comes by and we still do not have an updated medical registry where one can check the credentials of any doctor in India. After the spate of reports on fake doctors and those practicing without the requisite qualification or training, hospitals are struggling to verify the credentials of those they hire in the absence of a streamlined registry that reflects all the qualifications of a doctor and details of who have been blacklisted or penalized. 

Almost five years after the National Medical Commission (NMC) was constituted, it has managed to verify only a few hundred out of the estimated 13 lakh plus doctors practicing in India. In a bid to get the register updated, the commission put out a notice in September last year asking all practising doctors to register again with the national medical register. Just over 10,400 doctors’ applications were received, of which barely 140 were approved or verified at the beginning of May this year. Though the government claimed that “the speedy and easy registration process on the portal will facilitate the timely updation of the data”, in reality, doctors have been facing several problems with registration.

 “I registered on the portal on August 24, the day after it was opened. The Kerala State medical council approved and confirmed my registration to the NMC. Yet, my application has been returned with irrelevant queries four times, which include queries on the change in the names of the University and the state medical council. Even today, my registration is not done,” said Dr KV Babu, an ophthalmologist and an RTI activist whose RTI application revealed how slowly the registration process is happening. 

“Is there a comprehensive list of doctors who have been blacklisted over the years or those who have been penalized for some wrongdoing? Where can I find such a list? Without that, how do we do a background check on doctors we hire?” asked a doctor responsible for recruitment of doctors for a hospital. Many specialists are surprised by the number of doctors without the requisite specialization practicing a specialty and claiming to be experts. Health minister JP Nadda had claimed that the register would “strengthen the digital healthcare ecosystem” and that there would soon be “a similar register for the paramedics and other healthcare professionals”. 

Yet, the health ministry has not been able to provide accurate data in Parliament on how many doctors of modern medicine are currently practising