12.68 lakh allopathy, 5.62 lakh AYUSH doctors in India: Health Minister

Apart from these, in respect of the number of registered allopathic medical practitioners, Andhra Pradesh has 104886, Arunachal Pradesh has 1246, Assam 24083, Bihar 45795, Chattisgarh 10020, Delhi 26685, Goa 4035, Gujarat 71348, Haryana 15679, Himachal Pradesh 3406, Jammu & Kashmir 16648, Jharkhand 6926, Karnataka 131903, Madhya Pradesh 42600, Nagaland 141, Orissa 24780, Punjab 51685, Rajasthan 48230, Sikkim 1414, Travancore (Kerala) 65672, Uttar Pradesh 84560, Uttaranchal 9348, West Bengal 77664, Tripura 1945, and Telangana 7932 doctors. Finally, the Medical Council of India has a total number of 52667 allopathic practitioners registered with it.

Nurses in India

In case of the number of registered Nurses, there are a total of 934583 registered Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in the country. Among these, Andhra Pradesh has 139128, Arunachal Pradesh has 4163, Assam 28814, Bihar 11847, Chattisgarh 14782, Delhi 4835, Goa 156, Gujarat 51130, Haryana 29771, Himachal Pradesh 12007, Jharkhand 7896, Karnataka 54039, Kerala 31019, Madhya Pradesh 39563, Maharashtra 78304, Meghalaya 2016, Manipur 4184, Mizoram 2370, Orissa 67654, Punjab 23029, Rajasthan 108688, Tamil Nadu 59167, Tripura 2350, Uttar Pradesh 75671, Uttarakhand 9410, West Bengal 68982, Telangana 3372, and Sikkim has 236 registered ANM nurses.

The Minister has further informed the Parliament that India has a total of 2272208 registered Registered Nurses & Registered Midwives. Among these, Andhra Pradesh has 242853, Arunachal Pradesh has 4090, Assam has 23993, Bihar 11075, Chattisgarh 21984, Delhi 73513, Goa 477, Gujarat 131091, Haryana 35304, Himachal Pradesh 26611, Jharkhand 4977, Karnataka 231643, Kerala 288971, Madhya Pradesh 118793, Maharashtra 147494, Meghalaya 7742, Manipur 10431, Mizoram 4335, Orissa 82189, Punjab 76680, Rajasthan 200171, Tamil Nadu 308812, Tripura 5358, Uttar Pradesh 111860, Uttarakhand 15519, West Bengal 70442, Telangana 14495, and finally, Sikkim has 1305 registered nurses and registered midwives.

Further giving details about the available Lady Health Visitors in the country, the Union Health Ministry has informed that a total number of 56842 LHV nurses currently working in India. Andhra Pradesh has 2480, Arunachal Pradesh 159, Assam 386, Bihar 511, Chattisgarh 1352, Haryana 694, Himachal Pradesh 500, Jharkhand 142, Karnataka 6840, Kerala 8507, Madhya Pradesh 1731, Maharashtra 685, Meghalaya 237, Orissa 238, Punjab 2584, Rajasthan 2732, Tamil Nadu 11262, Tripura 148, Uttar Pradesh 2763, Uttarakhand 37, and West Bengal has 12854 Lady Health Visitors. States like Sikkim, Telangana, Manipur, Mizoram, Goa, Gujarat, and Delhi do not have LHV nurses, reveals the data.

India has a total number of 2127 B. Sc Nursing Institutes with an intake capacity of 107814, Minister Pawar has informed the Parliament. Among these, Andhra Pradesh has 150, Arunachal Pradesh 2, Assam 18, Bihar 10, Chandigarh 2, Chattisgarh 101, Dadra & Nagar Haveli 1, Daman & Diu 1, Delhi 14, Goa 3, Gujarat 108, Haryana 41, Himachal Pradesh 35, Jammu & Kashmir 18, Jharkhand 14, Karnataka 338, Kerala 132, Madhya Pradesh 198, Maharashtra 105, Manipur 8, Meghalaya 2, Mizoram 3, Nagaland 1, Orissa 40, Pondicherry 15, Punjab 111, Rajasthan 171, Sikkim 3, Tamil Nadu 192, Telangana 87, Tripura 4, Uttar Pradesh 132, Uttarakhand 25, Uttaranchal 1 and West Bengal has 41 B.Sc Nursing institutes.

With an intake capacity of 13971 students a total of 701 M.Sc nursing institutes are operative in the country. Among these, Andhra Pradesh has 36 institutes, Assam has 7, Bihar 2, Chandigarh 1, Chattisgarh 21, Dadra & Nagar haveli 1, Delhi 7, Goa 1, Gujarat 21, Haryana 11, Himachal Pradesh 8, Jammu & Kashmir 5, Jharkhand 2, Karnataka 160, Kerala 58, Madhya Pradesh 68, Maharashtra 44, Manipur 2, Meghalaya 1, Orissa 14, Pondicherry 9, Punjab 37, Rajasthan 29, Sikkim 1, Tamil Nadu 82, Telangana 24, Tripura 2, Uttar Pradesh 23, Uttarakhand 8, and West Bengal has 9 such institutes.

Minister Pawar has further informed the house that 802 P B B.Sc institutes operate in the country with an intake capacity of 25485 students. Among these, Andhra Pradesh has 32, Assam, Delhi, and Bihar has 4 each, Chandigarh 1, Chattisgarh 19, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Goa has 1 each, Gujarat 23, Haryana 30, Himachal Pradesh 14, Jammu & Kashmir 4, Jharkhand 5, Karnataka 178, Kerala 41, Madhya Pradesh 74, Maharashtra 53, Manipur 2, Meghalaya 1, Nagaland 1, Orissa 10, Pondicherry 7, Punjab 93, Rajasthan 49, Tamil Nadu 66, Telangana 18, Tripura 1, Uttar Pradesh 45, Uttarakhand 7 and West Bengal has 14 such institutes.

Details of State-wise Nursing Institutions

"i) Centrally Sponsored Scheme for establishment of new medical college by upgrading district hospital in underserved districts of the country.

ii) Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Strengthening/ upgradation of existing State Government/Central Government Medical Colleges to increase MBBS and PG seats.

iii) Viability Gap Funding Scheme for establishment of medical colleges in Public-Private Partnership mode.

iv) A Consortium (a group of 2 or upto 4 private organizations) has been allowed to establish a medical college. v) Relaxation in the norms for setting up of Medical College in terms of requirement for faculty, staff, bed strength and other infrastructure.

vi) Enhancement of maximum intake capacity at MBBS level from 150 to 250.

vii) DNB qualification has been recognized for appointment as faculty to take care of shortage of faculty.

viii) Enhancement of age limit for appointment/ extension/ re-employment against posts of teachers/dean/principal/ director in medical colleges upto 70 years.

ix) The ratio of teachers to students has been rationalized to increase the number of postgraduate medical seats in the country.

x) By amending the regulations, it has been made mandatory for all medical colleges to start PG courses within 3 years from the date of their MBBS recognition /continuation of recognition.

xi) Provision has been made in the Regulations to offer less number of seats to the applicant medical college, in case, it falls short of minimum prescribed requirements of applied intake to avoid wastage of human resources.

xii) Under the Central Sector Scheme - Development of Nursing Services, financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 7 crore for each institution is provided to schools of nursing to be upgraded to college of nursing.

xiii) The requirement of land to construct building for School/College of Nursing and Hostel has been relaxed.

xiv) The requirement of a 100 beded parent hospital has been relaxed for hilly and tribal areas for School/College of Nursing and Hostel.

xv) The student teacher ratio for M.Sc(N) programme has been relaxed from 1:5 to 1:10.

xvi) Student patient ratio for Nursing Institutions has been relaxed from 1:5 to 1:3.

xvii) Distance from Nursing School to hospital has been relaxed from 15 km to 30 km . However, for hilly and tribal areas the maximum distance is 50 km. Super speciality hospital can start M.Sc.(N) without having under graduate programme.

xviii) The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021 has been enacted to formulate and regulate standards of education, training and practice for more than 50 allied and healthcare professions."

Further replying to the query whether the Government proposes to bring in a national policy by making it mandatory for all PG/MBBS doctors to work in rural areas for three years, the Mos, MOHFW informed the Parliament, "The policy for mandatory rural service for MBBS / PG doctors is decided by the concerned State Government as per the healthcare requirement and availability of human resources in public health facilities of the State."

Finally informing the house about the steps that have been taken to increase the availability of doctors in rural/remote and difficult areas, Minister Pawar stated, 

(i) 50% of the seats in Post Graduate Diploma Courses are reserved for Medical Officers in the Government service, who have served for at least three years in remote and/or difficult and/or rural areas. After acquiring the PG Diploma, the Medical Officers shall serve for two more years in remote and/or difficult and/or rural areas.

(ii) Incentive at the rate of 10% of the marks obtained for each year in service in remote and/or difficult or rural areas as upto the maximum of 30% of the marks obtained in the entrance test for admissions in Post Graduate Medical Courses.

(iii) The National Board of Examinations (NBE) have started 2 years post MBBS Diploma courses in eight disciplines - Anaesthesia, OBGY, Paediatrics, Family Medicine, Ophthalmology, ENT, Radio Diagnosis and Tuberculosis & Chest Disease. These Diploma courses shall mostly be run in the District hospitals and thereby improve availability of trained healthcare manpower at district level.

(iv) District Residency Scheme for compulsory three months training of PG medical students at District Hospitals as an essential component of postgraduate medical training curriculum has been notified. Under the Scheme, the second/third year PG students of medical colleges would be posted in the district hospitals for a period of three months. This will ensure round the year availability of residents at the district level.

(v) 50% seats of DNB courses have also been reserved for in-service doctors of the State.

To view the official information provided by the Ministry, click on the link below.

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/loksabha-doctors-ratio-157908.pdf