MCI has provided a data to parliament, according to which there are more than 10.8 lakh doctors registered in India. MCI itself mentioned, that 80% availability should be assumed from the total number. After going through the Indian Medical Registry (IMR), it is quite clear that why nobody is aware of the exact number of doctors, that are alive and practicing. IMR is not timely updated.
Around 75,000 of the doctors in the IMR, have registered before the independence or may be after it, while some as early as the 19th century. It would not be surprising, to assume that a majority of them would have been dead or are not practicing any more. But, still their names are there in the list and are counted year after year. Since 2009, there have been repeated orders directed to state councils to re-register all the doctors in order to filter out those who might have died, migrated, or stopped…
