National Medical Commission struggles to add new doctors to registry while urging re-registration

The National Medical Commission is seeking to mandate re-registration for roughly 11 lakh doctors to create a current national medical registry. However, the body has not succeeded in enrolling the expected cohort of new practitioners, despite regular data submissions from state registries. In 2023, more than 10,000 foreign medical graduates passed the qualifying exam, after which they are required to finish a mandatory one-year internship before obtaining permanent registration.

Consequently, the majority of these graduates are slated to register in 2025, bringing the total expected new entries to about 80,000. To date, only a little over half of that figure—approximately 55 %—has been recorded in the registry. This shortfall highlights a gap between the NMC’s re-registration drive and its ability to capture new entrants to the profession.