Recently the Health Ministry gave important information to the Parliament regarding the registration of doctors in India. He told that according to the data of National Medical Council (NMC), there are 13,86,157 doctors registered in India, which is almost equal to the number of 13,86,136 doctors given in the Lok Sabha in August last year.
According to statistics, despite nearly 80,000 doctors graduating last year, only 21 doctors were registered in India. A clear difference is visible when comparing the NMC figures given last year with the figures of the state councils.
More than 40,000 doctors of Delhi missing from statistics
Delhi had less than 31,500 doctors in the NMC (National Medical Council) data, while the State Council’s 2020 data showed more than 72,600 doctors, so how did more than 40,000 doctors from Delhi go missing in the NMC data?
While presenting the figures last year, NMC had said that more than 73,000 doctors are registered with the Kerala Medical Council. However, a member of the Kerala Council told Times of India that this number is more than 1 lakh, that is, a difference of 36,000 is clearly visible.
‘Giving false information is against contempt of Parliament’
Similarly, the NMC reported less than 1.5 lakh doctors in Tamil Nadu, while the state council’s figures are more than 2 lakh. If seen, this is not a typing mistake or a minor calculation. This is a huge difference of 41,000 doctors between the official records of Delhi Medical Council (DMC) and the figures presented by the National Medical Council (NMC) in Parliament.
Dr Arun Kumar, national general secretary of the United Doctors Front (UDF), said, ‘This prevents MPs from discharging their duties and as per the procedure of Parliament, giving such false information is against contempt of Parliament.’
The figure of 72,636 is the authentic data of 2020.
Actually UDF had filed RTI for data related to registered medical practitioners in Delhi. The DMC replied that the total number of registered voters for the council elections in 2014 was 57,749 and for the 2020 elections the number was 72,636.
UDF general secretary Dr Kumar said, ‘Only those doctors who get their registration updated can vote in the council elections. Therefore, the figure of 72,636 is the authentic data of 2020. There are hundreds of new registrations every year, so now this number should be higher.
Question on Delhi’s health planning process
Dr Kumar further said, ‘In Delhi, which is one of the cities with the highest number of patients, having only 40,000 doctors spoils the entire healthcare planning process. They are planning to implement bonds in medical colleges of Delhi citing shortage of doctors. If they cannot give correct figures of Delhi then they will have to think about other states.
Also read:- PM Modi: Diwali gift to farmers, PM Modi launched two schemes worth Rs 35,440 crore, know how they will benefit?