New Delhi

India currently has one doctor for every 811 citizens, the Union government informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Responding to a written query, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda said the country has 13,88,185 registered allopathic doctors and 7,51,768 AYUSH practitioners. Taking into account that roughly 80% of registered professionals across both systems are actively available, the national doctor-population ratio works out to 1:811, he noted.

Nadda underlined that the government has made substantial progress in boosting medical education capacity over the last decade. Since 2014, the number of medical colleges has risen from 387 to 818, undergraduate seats from 51,348 to 1,28,875, and post-graduate seats from 31,185 to 82,059, he informed.

To improve access to doctors in underserved regions, Nadda highlighted multiple ongoing initiatives. Under the centrally sponsored scheme for the establishment of medical colleges attached to district or referral hospitals, 137 of the approved 157 colleges are already operational.

He also said the Family Adoption Programme (FAP) has been embedded in the MBBS curriculum to ensure better healthcare delivery in rural areas. Through the programme, medical colleges adopt villages and medical students adopt families, enabling regular monitoring of vaccination, menstrual hygiene, nutrition, iron-folic acid intake, lifestyle habits, vector-borne diseases and medication adherence. The approach also helps raise awareness about government health schemes at the household level.

Nadda added that under the National Medical Commission’s District Residency Programme, second- and third-year postgraduate students are posted in district hospitals to strengthen healthcare manpower.

To draw specialists to rural and difficult terrain, the government provides hard-area allowances as well as residential accommodation, he informed. States have also been granted the flexibility under the National Health Mission to offer negotiable salaries and adopt innovative recruitment practices such as “You Quote, We Pay” to attract specialist doctors.

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The minister further pointed out that the Registration of Medical Practitioners and Licence to Practise Medicine Regulations allow temporary registration of foreign medical experts in India for specific purposes — including training, fellowships, research, observership, voluntary services, expert visits, or participation in approved postgraduate and super-specialty programmes.