Allopathy doctors are facing technical issues and delays in registering themselves with the National Medical Register.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) launched the portal, the Nation Medical Register (NMR) on 23 August. All allopathy doctors eligible to practise are required to register on NMR for a unique ID.
The NMC has mandated all allopathy doctors to register with the NMR, even though they are already registered with the Indian Medical Register.
However, mismatch in the details provided in Aadhaar cards, State Medical Council and university records, have made the registration cumbersome. Many doctors are forced to submit affidavits, confirming their identity and qualification details.
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Senior doctors in a fix
“Many doctors registered over 15–20 years ago are now facing issues with the National Medical Register (NMR) portal due to name discrepancies. For instance, the name on their Aadhaar card may differ slightly from the name on their degree or State Medical Council (SMC) registration, as Aadhaar was introduced much later. This can lead to issues like initials in place of full names or vice versa,” Dr Ashik Abu, President of the Kerala-based General Practitioners Association told South First.
He said that the registration process has become especially problematic for senior doctors, who registered long before Aadhaar was mandatory. Their names may vary slightly across documents — for instance, full names might appear on degree certificates, while initials are used on Aadhaar. These minor discrepancies are causing delays.
Dr Abu added “As for myself, my details match my Aadhaar, registration certificate, and degree certificate. However, my application is still marked as ‘pending,’ and I’m not alone.”
“Around 70 percent of applicants have received some kind of objection or ‘query’, but the query is not mentioned and hence the issue cannot be addressed. In some cases, these queries pop up even after 60 or 62 days, leaving us unclear on what needs to be corrected. After 80–82 days, my application status still reads ‘pending,’ with no clarification on the issue. There’s an option to track the application, but it only shows a pending status without any details,” he said.
Many have even re-submitted applications with no changes, but they, too, have been remaining “pending” without explanation. “We’re not being told what’s wrong or how to resolve it, and it’s been nearly three months since we first applied. This lack of transparency is very frustrating,” Dr Abu added.
Indian Docs deserve better regulatory bodies !
1 NMR ,gazette notificn : 12/05/23
2 Website opened on 23/08/24
3 Request for regn of 24th Aug not approved even on the 66th Day , reason being difference in the name between AADHAR & certificates & change in the name of SMC ! pic.twitter.com/OJpLTea4A6
— Dr Babu K V (@drbabukv) October 27, 2024
National Medical Register
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda launched the portal on 23 August. The NMC is mandated under Section 31 of the NMC Act, 2019, to ensure that the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) maintains a digital National Register.
The register would have the name, address, and all recognised qualifications of licensed medical practitioners. The NMC claimed the NMR to be a dynamic database, serving as a central repository for all registered doctors, with their authenticity verified through Aadhaar IDs.
To register on NMR, doctors must upload their Aadhaar copy, digital copies of their MBBS degree certificate, and their original registration certificate from their State Medical Council (SMC) or the Medical Council of India.
Additional information, such as registration and qualification details, could be manually added on the portal. Once submitted, the application is sent to the SMC for verification, followed by a review at the relevant college or institution before reaching the NMC for final approval.
After this, doctors receive a unique NMR ID and can choose to join the Healthcare Provider Registry to connect with the digital healthcare ecosystem.
The NMR portal enables stakeholders, including SMCs and educational institutions, to verify applications on a single platform. It also offers functions like tracking applications, adding qualifications, suspending licences, and issuing digital doctor certificates. Currently limited to MBBS registration, the platform will soon allow additional qualifications.
Established under Section 31 of the NMC Act, 2019, the NMR was designed to provide a comprehensive database of over 1.3 million doctors, including details on those who have migrated, lost licences, or passed away.
This central register promises a clearer national overview of registered medical practitioners, but technical complexities are causing delays and frustrations. Doctors are struggling to set right mismatched details across multiple documents, often having to file affidavits.
Many medical professionals and organisations, including the Indian Medical Association, are advocating for automatic registration of doctors already enrolled with their respective SMCs, as was the case under the former Medical Council of India (MCI).
They argued that requiring only MBBS degrees and SMC registration certificates would simplify the process, reducing the current burden. Until these changes are made, thousands of MBBS doctors continue to grapple with the NMR’s challenges, awaiting a streamlined solution.
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The university issue
After the formation of Telangana in 2014, the state government established the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) the same year and separated all the medical colleges in Telangana affiliated with the NTR University of Health Sciences to the newly established university.
Also, last year Telangana State Medical Council launched a drive for the re-registration of doctors in the state. Now, it has caused an issue with the doctors, registering on the NMR website.
“There are some issues with the NMR registration process for doctors in Telangana, primarily due to the university designation on the portal. Before 2014, MBBS degrees here were issued by NTR University of Health Sciences. For the doctors registering from Telangana, the portal only provides KNRUHS as an option, leaving NTR University entirely. I am a 2009 MBBS graduate from the NTR University, but for me also, the option is not there,” Dr G Srinivas, Vice-Chairman of the Telangana State Medical Council told South First.
He said that this presented a challenge for doctors who graduated before 2015 from NTR University, “as they are now forced to select KNRUHS for submission. This limitation in options on the NMC portal needs to be addressed to avoid confusion and ensure accurate documentation.”
He however said that the NMR system is meant to be a collaborative database, expected to cover all the registered doctors, thereby enhancing transparency and allowing verification of doctors’ qualifications.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
