Lok Sabha Question No. 930 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-22
Subject: Shortage of Medical Professionals
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Vivek Narayan Shejwalkar, Vijayakumar (alias) Vijay Vasanth, Dharambir Singh, Sunil Kumar Singh, Sudhakar Tukaram Shrangre, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, Devji Mansingram Patel, Anurag Sharma, Ramcharan Bohra, Ranjeetsingh Naik Nimbalkar, Dr. T. Sumathy (a) Thamizhachi Thangapandian

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 930

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 ND  JULY, 2022

## SHORTAGE OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS

## 930 SHRI VIVEK NARAYAN SHEJWALKAR:

SHRI VIJAYAKUMAR (ALIAS) VIJAY VASANTH:

SHRI DHARAMBIR SINGH:

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:

SHRI SUDHAKAR TUKARAM SHRANGARE:

SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM:

SHRI SAPTAGIRI SANKAR ULAKA:

SHRI DEVJI M. PATEL:

SHRI ANURAG SHARMA:

SHRI RAMCHARAN BOHRA:

SHRI RANJEETSINGH HINDURAO NAIK NIMBALKAR:

DR. T. SUMATHY (a) THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of allopathic doctors and nurses registered and their actual requirement State/UTwise;
- (b) whether there is dearth of doctors/nurses/other paramedics in the country, if so, the details thereof  along  with  positions  lying  vacant  and  its  impact  on  healthcare  system  in  the  country, State/UT-wise;
- (c)  the  details  of  present  norms  regarding  doctor-patients  ratio,  Nurse-patient,  hospitals  bedspatients ratio along with the steps taken to bridge these gaps as recommended by the WHO and UN Health indices;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to fill up all vacant PG medical seats and increase number of medical colleges and seats in allied institutions to meet the shortage of doctors and paramedics in  a  time  bound  manner  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  steps  taken  in  this  regard, State/UT-wise;
- (e) whether the Government proposes to bring in a national policy making it mandatory for all PG/MBBS doctors to work in rural areas for three years, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (f) the steps taken by the Government to cater the underserved regions/people in the country?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

- (a)  to  (f):  As  per  information  provided  by  National  Medical  Commission  (NMC),  there  are 13,08,009  allopathic  doctors  registered  with  the  State  Medical  Councils  and  the  National Medical  Commission  (NMC)  as  on  June,  2022.  Assuming  80%  availability  of  registered

allopathic doctors and 5.65 lakh AYUSH doctors, the doctor-population ratio in the country is 1:834 which is better than the WHO standard of 1:1000. Also, there are 34.33 lakh registered nursing personnel and 13 lakh Allied and Healthcare Professionals in the country.

To  ensure  that  PG  medical  seats  are  not  left  vacant,  the  Government  has  reduced  the benchmark percentile for admission in PG Degree & Diploma courses and the counselling for all India quota PG (Broad Specialty) seats has been increased to four rounds from the year 2021.

For  making  rapid  growth  in  the  number  of  allied  medical  seats  in  the  country,  the Government has enacted National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) Act, 2021 and an Interim Commission has been notified under the provisions of NCAHP Act, 2021.

The primary responsibility for administering health personnel and availability of sufficient number of beds as per need in Government hospitals lies with the concerned State Government. As per the information  published in  National  Health  Profile  (NHP),  2021,  the  details  of  beds State/  UT  wise  may  be  seen  at  page  No.  417,  Table  No.  6.2.2  with  the  help  of  link  namely https://www.cbhidghs.nic.in/showfile.php?lid=1160 .

The Government has taken following steps to further increase the availability of doctors in the country, particularly in underserved regions. The number of UG seats have increased from 51,348 before 2014 to 91927 seats as on date which is an increase of 79%. The numbers of PG seats have increased by 93% from 31,185 seats before 2014 to 60202 seats .

The steps to increase doctor-patients ratio include:- i. Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  establishment  of  new  medical  college  by  upgrading district/ referral hospital under which 157 new medical colleges have been approved and 72 are already functional.

ii. Centrally Sponsored Scheme for strengthening/ upgradation of existing State Government/Central Government Medical Colleges to increase MBBS and PG seats.

iii. Central Sector Scheme for upgradation of Government Medical Colleges by construction of  Super  Specialty  Blocks.  A  total  of  75  projects  have  been  approved  and  55  have  been completed.

iv. Under  Central  Sector  Scheme  for  setting  up  of  new  AIIMS,  22  AIIMS  have  been approved. Undergraduate courses have started in 19 AIIMS.

v. Relaxation in the norms for setting up of Medical College in terms of requirement for faculty, staff, bed strength and other infrastructure.

vi. DNB  qualification  has  been  recognized  for  appointment  as  faculty  to  take  care  of shortage of faculty.

vii. Enhancement  of  age  limit  for  appointment/  extension/  re-employment  against  posts  of teachers/dean/principal/ director in medical colleges upto 70 years.

viii.     The tenure of Senior Residency for appointment of Assistant Professor have reduced from three year to one year.

ix.      Under  the  District  Residency  Programme  (DRP),  all  the  doctors  admitted  to  PG  courses from 2022 onwards, to serve in the district hospitals for three months mandatorily.

The  Government  has  also  taken  the  following  steps  to  increase  the  Nurse-patient  ratio  in  the country:-

(i) For Nursing Educational Programmes Student patient ratio has been relaxed from 1:5 to 1:3.

(ii) The land requirement for Nursing Educational Institutes from 3 acres has been relaxed to construct building of 54,000 sq. ft. for School/College of Nursing including Hostel.

(iii) To open GNM and B.Sc. (Nursing) programme 100 bedded parent hospital is essential since 2013-2014. However, this is relaxed for hilly and tribal areas.

(iv) Relaxed norms for teaching faculty to start B.Sc. (N) Programme.

- (v) Super speciality Hospital can start M.Sc. (N) without having under graduate programme.

(vi) Maximum of 100 seats will be granted to the institutions for B.Sc.(N)/GNM programmes which are having parent hospital with 300 beds without insisting on Medical College.

(vii) Distance from school to hospital has been relaxed.

(viii) Eligibility Criteria for admission to nursing programmes relaxed.

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