NEW DELHI: Only 1,800, or just 0.05% of the Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs), who had applied for the government’s much-publicised National Medical Register (NMR), have been issued the certificates in the last two years, as per the NMC’s minutes of the meetings.
As many as 30,000 applications for RMPs are pending verification with the State Medical Councils (SMCs) and the National Medical Commission (NMC), according to the January 7, minutes accessed by TNIE.
At the 17th meeting of the Commission, which was chaired by its Chairman, Dr Abhijat Chandrakant Sheth, members expressed concern about “slow progress” in the registration process and suggested constituting a committee to recommend solutions and expedite the entire process of updating the NMR.
It also mentioned that detailed deliberations are needed regarding NMR, a centralised database of registered medical practitioners in modern medicine in the country.
Discussing progress in operationalising NMC’s NMR portal, the minutes said that “operational challenges were reported for slow progress due to voluntary enrolment, data inconsistencies between State Medical Registers and NMR, and technical constraints affecting workflow efficiency”.
“These challenges are being examined, and measures are being planned to strengthen system functionality,” said the December 16, 2025, meeting attended by 33 members. Health Minister JP Nadda had in August 2024 launched the portal.
It was mandatory for RMPs, estimated to be 13.5 lakh as per Parliament reply of 2023, to register themselves. But after it failed to take off even after months, the Health Ministry announced in Parliament on August 8, 2025, in a written reply, that the initiative was now voluntary.
The ministry’s response in Parliament came after Samajwadi Party MP Aditya Yadav, in a written question, sought details on the initial slow start of the NMR rollout, citing a report published in TNIE.
During the meeting, NMC Secretary Dr Raghav Langer informed members that State Medical Councils (SMCs) currently use different online portals and offline mechanisms for doctors’ registration, underlining the “need for a pan-India Common Registration Portal, to ensure real-time synchronisation of SMR and NMR.”
“The committee can look into this aspect in consultation with IT experts, and progress/possible solutions can be presented in the next meeting of NMC,” the minutes stated. The minutes were shared by the NMC with RTI activist Dr KV Babu on June 9 in response to a separate RTI query.
Speaking to TNIE, Kerala-based Dr Babu, who has filed several RTIs on the issue after facing hurdles while registering himself, said concerns over the NMR portal had been flagged by stakeholders early on. “It was pointed out by the stakeholders in August 2024 itself that NMR registration will be a non-starter,” he said.
“Though it is almost two years now, only 0.05% of those who applied were issued NMR certificates. It is a disaster. Hope NMC will talk to the various stakeholders and prepare a database of RMPs in our country, which is very important, even for allowing permission to start new medical colleges in the country,” Dr Babu added.