Altogether 13,08,009 registered allopathic doctors in India: MoS Health informs Parliament

New Delhi: India has altogether 13,08,009 allopathic doctors registered with the State Medial Councils and the National Medical Commission (NMC), as on June 2022, informed the Union Minister of State for Health Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar.

"Assuming 80% availability of registered allopathic doctors and 5.65 lakh AYUSH doctors, the doctor population ratio in the country is 1:834," the MoS Health informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Referring to the availability of nurses and allied healthcare professionals, the Minister informed that there are 2.10 nurses per 1000 population and 13 lakh Allied and Healthcare Professionals in the country.

The information was shared by the MoS Health in response to queries regarding the availability of doctors, nurses and hospital beds in India. Another member of the Parliament also raised the issue of inadequacy of doctors in rural areas, despite creating more medical colleges. The Minister was also asked about the measures which are being taken to solve the issue of inadequacy of doctors in rural areas.

While responding to these queries, the Minister said that the primary responsibility for administering healthcare professional and availability of sufficient number of beds as per need in Government hospitals lies with the concerned State Government. 

In respect of the availability of beds in Government health facilities, she stated, "As per the information published in National Health Profile (NHP), 2022, the details of bed available in Government health facilities in States/ UTs is available at page No. 430, Table No 6.2.2 having url: https://cbhidghs.mohfw.gov.in.

Increase in number of Medical Colleges & MBBS Seats: 

The Minister informed that the Government has increased the number of medical colleges and subsequently increased the MBBS seats. "There has been 82% increase in Medical colleges from 387 in 2013-14 to 704 in 2023-24. Further, there is an increase of 110% in MBBS seats from 51,348 before 2014 to 1,07,948 as of now, there is also an increase of 117% in PG seats from 31,185 before 2014 to 67,802 as of now," stated the Minister.

"Under National Health Mission (NHM), support is provided to the States /UTs to strengthen their health care systems based on the proposals received from the States so as to provide universal access to equitable, affordable and quality health care services all over the country including in Rural/Tribal Areas. Further, under NHM, flexibility is given to the States for providing hard area allowance, performance-based incentives, providing accommodation and transport facilities in rural and remote areas, sponsoring training programmes, etc. to engage human resources, to address the issue of shortage of doctors and specialists in the public health facilities," informed the Minister.

She further added that "The States are also encouraged to adopt flexible norms for engaging doctors and specialists for public healthcare facilities. These include 'contracting in' and 'contracting out' of specialist services and engaging specialists outside the government system for service delivery at public facilities under NHM."

Referring to the measures that have been taken by the Government for the betterment of healthcare facilities all across the country and especially at the District and Rural areas, the MoS Health informed, "To strengthen health facilities and improve availability of health professionals in the country the central government started various central sector/centrally sponsored schemes, including Establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals for setting up of medical colleges and PMSSY for establishing new AIIMS and upgradation of existing medical colleges. Under the scheme 'Development of Nursing Services' funds are provided to States to upgrade Schools of Nursing into Colleges of Nursing. Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for “Establishment of new Medical College attached with existing district/referral hospital” 157 medical colleges have been approved since 2014. Establishment of 157 nursing colleges have been announced in the budget speech 2023-24 in these medical colleges."

"To enhance healthcare facilities at District/Rural level and to address the issue of shortage of specialists in the country, the Government has approved District Residency Program where the second/third year PG students of medical colleges are to be posted in the district hospitals for a period of three months," she further mentioned.

To view the documents, click on the link below:

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/total-doctors-in-india-215174.pdf

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/total-number-of-doctors-215175.pdf

Also Read: With 13.08 lakh Allopathy, 5.65 lakh AYUSH Doctors, India's Doctor population ratio better than WHO standard: Health Ministry data