NMC data shows India added just 21 docs in a year when 80k graduated

The health ministry recently told Parliament that the National Medical Commision (NMC) data shows there are 13,86,157 registered doctors in India, a number that is almost identical to the 13,86,136 it cited in the Lok Sabha in Aug last year. So, how could India have added just 21 doctors over the past year despite about 80,000 graduating in that period? Cross-checking the state-wise NMC data given last year with the state councils' rolls shows a glaring mismatch.

Delhi had less than 31,500 doctors in NMC data, whereas state council data for 2020 showed more than 72,600. How did more than 40,000 doctors go missing in NMC's data for the city?

Last year, NMC submitted that Kerala Medical Council has over 73,000 doctors registered with it. However, a Kerala council member told TOI the number is over 1 lakh, a difference of 36,000.

Similarly, while NMC reported under 1.5 lakh in Tamil Nadu, the state council's figures are over 2 lakh.

"This is not a clerical slip or a marginal miscalculation. It is a glaring 41,000-doctor gap between what the Delhi Medical Council (DMC) officially recorded and what union health ministry or NMC told Parliament. Placing incorrect, misleading or incomplete information before the Lok Sabha is a breach of Parliamentary privilege. It obstructs Members of Parliament from performing their duties, and as per Parliamentary procedure, such misrepresentation amounts to contempt of the House," said Dr Arun Kumar, national general secretary of United Doctors Front (UDF).

UDF had filed an RTI asking for data on registered medical practitioners in Delhi. DMC responded that in 2014, the total number of registered voters for the council election was 57,749, and it was 72,636 for the 2020 elections. "Only those who have renewed their registration can vote for the council election. So, 72,636 is authentic data as of 2020," said Dr Kumar. With a few hundred new registrations every year, this number ought to be even higher now.

Huge variations between the actual registrations in state councils and what is submitted by NMC skew the calculation of the doctor-to-population ratio. In Delhi's case, NMC's data is over 66% less than DMC's count. In the case of Kerala, it is off by 33%.

"For Delhi, a city with one of the highest patient inflows in the country, undercounting by 40,000 doctors distorts the entire healthcare planning process. They are planning to bring in compulsory bond in Delhi medical colleges, claiming doctor shortage . If they cannot get the Delhi data right, one can only wonder about other states," said Dr Kumar.

In Sept 2020 NMC replaced erstwhile Medical Council of India , which was labelled corrupt and non-transparent in its functioning. However, five years later NMC has failed in its basic function of maintaining an updated medical registry crucial for decision-making.

"NMC is totally defunct. Appointments are not made on time. Most posts have been lying vacant for more than a year. They don't even respond to communication from state councils. There has been no process to update their database or to bring in a system by which additions to the state councils will lead to automatic updation of NMC's registry," said a Kerala Council member.