How many doctors registered with state medical councils? Check out Health Ministry data

New Delhi: As per the National Medical Commission's data, as of November 2024, India has altogether 13,86,145 allopathic doctors, who are registered with the State Medical Councils across the country.

Among these, the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) has the maximum number i.e. 209540 registered doctors, followed by Tamil Nadu Medical Council, which has 149399 registered doctors, and Karnataka Medical Council, which has 141155 doctors registered with it.

The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda shared this data with the Lok Sabha while responding to some queries in this regard. Parliament members Shri Murari Lal Meena and Shri Ramshankar Rajbhar sought to know from the Ministry about the details of MBBS doctor-population ratio in the country. Further, the Ministry was asked to inform about the steps taken by the Government to improve the MBBS doctor-population ratio in the country, the status of availability of doctors in Government hospitals in the country.

Apart from these, other queries included whether there was any shortage of doctors in India and data was also sought regarding the total number of doctors graduating annual in the country along with the amount of annual fee. Shri Rajbhar also asked the Health Minister if the Government had any plans to reduce the fees payable by the medical students.

Responding to these queries, the Union Health Minister informed that "As per information provided by National Medical Commission (NMC), there are 13,86,145 allopathic doctors registered with the State Medical Councils (SMCs) and the National Medical Commission (NMC) as on November, 2024. Assuming 80% availability of registered allopathic doctors and around 6.14 lakh AYUSH doctors, the doctor-population ratio in the country is around 1:811 which is better than the WHO standard of 1:1000."

The details of the number of allopathic doctors registered with the SMCs/Erstwhile MCI/NMC are as follows:

As per the data, shared by the Ministry, 105805 doctors are registered with Andhra Pradesh Medical Council, 1660 doctors are registered with Arunachal Pradesh Medical Council, 25980 doctors are registered with Assam Medical Council, 48200 doctors are registered with the Bihar Medical Council, 10962 doctors are registered with Chhattisgarh Medical Council, 31481 doctors are registered with Delhi Medical Council, 4720 doctors are registered with Goa Medical Council, 79169 doctors are registered with Gujarat Medical Council, 15714 doctors are registered Haryana Medical Council, 7296 doctors are registered with Himachal Pradesh Medical Council, 18720 doctors are registered with Jammu & Kashmir Medical Council, 8544 doctors are registered with Jharkhand Medical Council, 49730 doctors are registered with Madhya Pradesh Medical Council, 156 doctors are registered with Mizoram Medical Council, 166 doctors are registered with Nagaland Medical Council, 29792 doctors are registered with Orissa Medical Council, 53446 doctors are registered Punjab Medical Council, 49049 doctors are registered with Rajasthan Medical Council, 1880 doctors are registered with Sikkim Medical Council, 73070 doctors are registered with Travancore Medical Council, 99737 doctors are registered with Uttar Pradesh Medical Council, 10249 doctors are registered with Uttarakhand Medical Council, 78759 doctors are registered with West Bengal Medical Council, 2683 doctors are registered with Tripura Medical Council, 26411 doctors are registered with Telangana Medical Council, and 52672 doctors are registered with the erstwhile Medical Council of India.

The Union Health Minister further informed that the Government has increased the number of medical colleges and subsequently increased MBBS seats. "There is an increase of 102% in Medical Colleges from 387 before 2014 to 780 as of now. Further, there is an increase of 130% in MBBS seats from 51,348 before 2014 to 1,18,137 as of now and increase of 135% in PG seats from 31,185 before 2014 to 73,157 as of now," informed the Union Health Minister.

Further, the Ministry informed that the following steps have been taken by the Government to increase the doctor/medical professional in the country:

i. Centrally Sponsored Scheme for establishment of new medical college by upgrading district/ referral hospital under which 131 new medical colleges are already functional out of 157 approved medical colleges which includes 27 medical colleges in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

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

iii. Under “Upgradation of Government Medical Colleges by construction of Super Specialty Blocks” of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) scheme, a total of 75 projects have been approved, of which 69 projects are complete.

iv. Under the Central Sector Scheme for setting up of new AIIMS, 22 AIIMS have been approved. Undergraduate courses have started in 19 of these.

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

vi. Enhancement of age limit for appointment/ extension/ re-employment against posts of teachers/Dean/Principal/ Director in medical colleges upto 70 years.

Regarding the issue of fees, the Health Minister informed, "As envisaged in Section 10(1) of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, NMC has framed guidelines for determination of fees and all other charges in respect of fifty percent of seats in private medical institutions and deemed to be universities which are governed under the provisions of NMC Act, 2019."

Also Read: How Many Doctors Registered with Medical Councils? Health Ministry gives State, UT Wise Break-Up in Parliament