Move to create single national list of doctors hits a roadblock

The enthusiasm with which a portal to update the National Medical Register , meant to provide a single consolidated list of doctors licensed to practice in India, was welcomed has dimmed as lakhs of doctors are being asked to file affidavits to prove they are the same person, as their aadhaar cards have different spellings for names or surnames. With more than 70% of doctors registered from pre-aadhaar days, this complication could hobble the updating process.

The changes in the names of some state medical councils (SMCs) and universities which granted degrees to doctors has also thrown a spanner in the works as NMC has raised queries regarding these and sought clarification. For instance, Kerala Medical Council ( KMC ) used to be Travancore Cochin Medical Council (TCMC) till 2021, when a state legislation was passed to change the name. Over 80,000 doctors are registered with the KMC. “Rather than stalling the registration of 80,000 doctors of KMC, raising query about the change of name of their state council, NMC could automatically register them as it is aware of the name change,” pointed out a KMC-registered doctor.

“We are already registered with our respective state medical councils and hence our names are also in the Indian Medical Register, as the register is a collection of all state registers. If the state medical council verifies our registration, why should NMC demand individual affidavits? None of us have the time to answer each and every query raised by the NMC. Most will give up on the re-registration process and this initiative will become a non-starter unless the NMC simplifies the process,” said Dr K V Babu, an ophthalmologist.

Though a doctor registered in August with the national portal and the registration was sent to the SMC, which reviewed and verified the application, two months later, the doctors was asked to file an affidavit regarding the difference in the spelling of his name on his aadhaar card .

“Such rigidity will lead to the whole exercise becoming a failure. Doctors will just ignore it as they don’t have the time. This could have been sorted out by NMC talking to the SMCs. We will take it up with the chairman of NMC,” said Dr R V Ashokan, president of the Indian Medical Association . He added that the only reason IMA supported this initiative was because the NMC chairman explained that the registration with the National Medical Register would be valid across India with doctors only having to get a licence to practice in whichever states they wanted. “With a registration, the licensing is supposed to become an automatic process in any SMC,” said Dr Ashokan.

India does not have a live register of doctors and hence the government has no data on how many doctors are working in India. The Indian Medical Register, which existed under the erstwhile MCI, was not updated periodically and hence even those who have left the country or those who have died continue to be counted in the total number of doctors. Four years after the NMC came into existence, the NMC launched the National Medical Register in August by creating a portal for doctors to register.