Only 1,800 certificates issued, over 30k applications pending- NMC mulls committee to fast-track National Medical Register
New Delhi: Despite the National Medical Register (NMR) being operationalised since 23rd August 2024, only 1800 registration certificates have been issued to doctors so far, as per the NMC's minutes of meetings.
The minutes of the 17th meeting of NMC, a copy of which is with the Medical Dialogues team, further revealed that more than 30,000 applications for registration in the NMR are pending verification by the State Medical Councils and the National Medical Commission (NMC).
NMR was introduced by NMC to have a consolidated list of allopathic doctors practising across the country. This dynamic database is supposed to act as a central repository of all registered doctors. It was decided that the verification of the authenticity of these doctors would be done by the Aadhaar IDs.
Back in 2024, NMC had said in a public notice that all the MBBS doctors who are registered on the Indian Medical Register (IMR) would have to register again on the NMR.
However, since its launch on 23rd August 2024, approximately 1800 certificates have been issued. According to the data shared by the Government in the Parliament in 2023, there are 13,49,679 RMPs in our country. Considering this number, only 0.1 percent of NMR applications have been processed so far.
"It was apprised that National Medical Register (NMR) was operationalised with effect from 23' August, 2025. So far, approx. 1800 certificates have been issued and more than 30.000 applications are pending for verifications at the level of SMCs and NMC," mentioned the minutes.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that, facing trouble during registration in the National Medical Register (NMR), the doctors had urged the authorities concerned to simplify the process by automatically converting State registration into national registration by the Central Government. The doctors had alleged that they were facing a mismatch regarding the details of the Aadhar card, State medical board registration, including spellings of names and surnames, etc.
Addressing the issue of operational challenges in the NMR, the NMC minutes of the meeting mentioned feedback received from medical professionals indicated the need for review and improvement of the registration process. Further, the commission mentioned that these challenges were being examined and further measures are being considered in this regard.
"...operational challenges were reported for slow progress due to voluntary enrolment, data inconsistencies between State Medical Registers and NMR. and technical constraints affecting workflow efficiency. It was further mentioned that feedback received from medical professionals indicate the need for review and improvement. These challenges are being examined. and further measures are being planned to strengthen system functionality and to accelerate progress," stated the document.
NMC in the meeting agreed on the need for detailed deliberations. Addressing the concerns of NMC members regarding the slow progress in this regard, a suggestion was made for setting up a committee to recommend solutions and expedite the whole process to update the NMR.
"It was decided that detailed deliberations needs to be done with respect to issues pertaining to National Medical Register (NMR). Members expressed their concerns regarding slow progress in this matter. It was suggested to constitute a committee to recommend solutions and expedite the whole process of updation of National Medical Register," the minutes stated.
"The Secretary informed the members that at present various State Medical Councils (SMCs) are using different online portals/offline mechanisms for registration of doctors and there is a need for a Pan-India Common Registration Portal, to ensure real-time synchronisation of SMR & NMR. The committee can look into this aspect in consultation with IT experts and progress/possible solutions can be presented in the next meeting of NMC," it further mentioned.
These minutes were shared with Dr. KV Babu, Kerala-based Health Activist, who had filed a Right to Information Application to access the document. Commenting on the issue, Dr. Babu told Medical Dialogues, "It was pointed out by the stakeholders in 2024 August itself that NMR registration will be a non-starter. Though it is almost two years by now, only 0.05% of those applied were issued NMR certificates & it is a disaster. Hope NMC will talk to the various stakeholders and prepare a database of RMPs in our country which is highly essential even for allowing permission to start new medical colleges in the country."
