Seven years on, two-thirds of India's nurses are still outside the national digital registry

More than two-thirds of India's registered nursing workforce has still not been brought onto the Nurses Registration and Tracking System, more than seven years after the digital platform was introduced to create a national registry and streamline registration services.

Government data tabled in the Lok Sabha last month show that only 14.24 lakh of the country's 46.02 lakh registered nursing personnel have been enrolled, leaving 31.78 lakh outside the national system. That workforce is made up of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives, Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives, and Lady Health Visitors.

The consequences fall on individual nurses. Many wait months for the No Objection Certificate required to change their place of employment. Others seeking work abroad run into delays in credential verification, which affects their career opportunities and their livelihoods.

The state-wise figures point to stark disparities. Karnataka has more than 5.58 lakh registered nursing personnel but has enrolled only around 82,000. Tamil Nadu, with over 4.76 lakh, has enrolled just 57,000. Andhra Pradesh has brought 92,000 of its 4.52 lakh onto the platform, and Kerala about 1.5 lakh of its 4.2 lakh.

A few states have done markedly better. Bihar has enrolled 62,020 of its 62,591 registered personnel. Jharkhand has brought 24,640 onto the system, or 90 per cent of its 27,160. Odisha has enrolled 78,244 out of 98,194.

The system was launched by the Indian Nursing Council together with the National Informatics Centre to maintain a live national register and provide a single online platform for primary registration, renewal, reciprocal registration and registration of higher qualifications. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the Health Ministry said nurses are enrolled after verification by the respective State Nursing Councils, after which they are issued National Unique Identity cards and Nurse Passbooks. It said the Council had held meetings with state registrars, run virtual training, issued online manuals and set up a helpdesk.

Nursing organisations argue the uneven rollout has defeated the purpose of a centralised registry. The Indian Professional Nurses Association contends that several State Nursing Registration Councils continue to process registration and renewal through their own systems rather than routing them through the national platform, causing delay and duplication. In a public interest litigation filed before the Delhi High Court in 2025, the association alleged that nurses often had to rely on middlemen and agencies to obtain registration documents, and that these intermediaries exploited them financially.

The Delhi High Court in May 2025 directed the Council to consider the association's representation and pass a reasoned order. The Council replied that responsibility for registering nurses rests with the State Nursing Registration Councils under the existing legal framework, and that while the platform is designed to offer a transparent and time-bound mechanism, its effectiveness depends on consistent adoption by all state councils. A Congress MP has separately urged the Union Health Minister to complete enrolment and issue identity cards within six months.