NEW DELHI: The Delhi HC has asked the Indian Nursing Council to examine and decide on a request seeking improvements to the Nurses Registration and Tracking System (NRTS), citing concerns over its inefficiency.
A Bench of Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the order on May 7, directing the Council to issue a reasoned decision in line with applicable laws and regulations. The order further stated that a formal response must be issued within six weeks of receiving a certified copy of the Court’s directions, and the outcome must be duly communicated to the petitioner.
The petition, filed by the Indian Professional Nurses Association (IPNA) through Advocate Robin Raju, called for regular assessment of the support extended by State Nurses Registration Councils (SNRCs) in maintaining the NRTS. The plea relied on a 2019 circular which envisioned stronger cooperation between the national and state-level bodies.
The NRTS was introduced by the Indian Nursing Council in partnership with the National Informatics Centre to bring uniformity to the registration of nurses across India. It was intended to modernise the process through Aadhaar-based identification, reciprocal registration across states, and registration of higher qualifications. The system also promised an online application mechanism to reduce bureaucratic delays. However, the IPNA contended that the system has largely failed to deliver on these objectives.
According to the plea, only 12.76 lakh nurses are presently listed in the NRTS, far fewer than the over 21 lakh nurses and midwives recorded in Parliament’s 2020 data.The petition highlighted that a significant number of nurses have yet to receive their National Unique Identity Number (NUID), which was meant to act as a gateway to professional incentives such as Continuing Nursing Education.
Further concerns were raised over missing data on reciprocal registrations and No Objection Certificates, pointing to weak coordination between the Indian Nursing Council and SNRCs. “NRTS has been reduced to a data repository rather than a functional system. Its original purpose of making registration more efficient, has faded with time,” the plea said.