**Executive Summary**
This document reports on a Post-Budget Webinar Breakout Session discussing strategies to expand India's allied healthcare workforce. The key objective is to add 1,00,000 Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) over the next five years. Discussions focused on strengthening education, standardizing training, and increasing awareness of career opportunities. The webinar concluded on 09 March 2026.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Government Initiative:**
* Ambitious plan to add 1,00,000 Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) over the next five years.
* Aims to improve accessibility, quality, and sustainability of allied healthcare services and education.
* Expansion includes diploma, undergraduate, and postgraduate programs.
* **Demand Drivers:**
* Rising demand for AHPs is driven by demographic transition, non-communicable diseases, expanding healthcare infrastructure, and advanced medical technologies.
* Sectors like diagnostics, imaging, physiotherapy, emergency care, and anaesthesia technology show growing demand.
* **Priority Disciplines for Training:**
* Optometry, Physiotherapy, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Dialysis Therapy, Radiology and Imaging Technology, Radiotherapy Technology, Anaesthesia and OT Technology, Emergency Medical Technology, Occupational Therapy, Applied Psychology and Behavioural Health, and Palliative Care.
* **Current Infrastructure and Standards:**
* Over 500 government institutes offer approximately 48,000 seats.
* Around 3,800 private institutes offer over 3.6 lakh seats, with variations in facilities and faculty.
* Need to ensure uniform standards across institutes as per the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021.
* **Strategies for Expansion:**
* Modernize government AHP institutions according to NCAHP norms.
* Strengthen laboratories and simulation facilities.
* Address faculty shortages.
* Increase awareness about career opportunities in allied health professions.
* Standardize curricula and strengthen regulatory mechanisms.
* Enhance industry-academia collaboration.
* Leverage existing hospitals as teaching and skill training hubs.
* Strengthen faculty exchange programs between universities and medical colleges.
* Utilize district medical colleges as hubs for allied health sciences.
* **Regulatory Framework:**
* Operationalization of the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021, has transformed the regulatory framework for allied health education and professional standards.
**Impact Analysis**
**Policymakers**
* **Impact:** Informed about strategies and recommendations to drive the expansion of the allied healthcare workforce, aligning with the Union Budget's policy vision.
* **Action Required:** Translate insights and recommendations into a robust implementation roadmap.
**Regulators (NCAHP, NMC)**
* **Impact:** Their roles and the established regulatory framework provide a foundation for scaling up quality education and ensuring standardized training.
* **Action Required:** Continue to uphold and enforce standards for allied health education and professional practices.
**Industry Leaders and Healthcare Providers**
* **Impact:** Will be involved in expanding allied healthcare education infrastructure, potentially through collaborations and leveraging existing facilities as training hubs.
* **Action Required:** Collaborate with academic institutions to address faculty shortages, enhance training quality, and contribute to the development of a skilled workforce.
**Academic Experts and Faculty**
* **Impact:** Will be involved in modernizing institutions, strengthening facilities, and potentially participating in faculty exchange programs.
* **Action Required:** Address faculty shortages, enhance teaching and training quality, and contribute to curriculum development and standardization.
**Youth and Prospective Students**
* **Impact:** Increased awareness of diverse and viable career pathways in allied and healthcare professions.
* **Action Required:** Consider allied health professions as rewarding career options and pursue relevant education and training.
**Government Institutes**
* **Impact:** Will be modernized and strengthened in line with NCAHP norms, with enhanced laboratories and simulation facilities.
* **Action Required:** Implement modernization plans and address faculty shortages to expand training capacity.
**Private Institutes**
* **Impact:** May contribute to expanding training capacity and need to align with uniform standards.
* **Action Required:** Align infrastructure, laboratories, equipment, and faculty training with uniform standards.
Key Entities Referenced
National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021: The law establishing the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions, which provides the regulatory framework for allied health education and professional standards.
National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP): The regulatory body responsible for setting standards in allied health education and professions in India.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: The government ministry that organized the webinar and is focused on the expansion of the allied healthcare workforce.
Dr. Vinod Kotwal: Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, who moderated the session and highlighted key aspects of the allied health workforce.
Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas: The overarching theme of the webinar series, within which this breakout session on Allied Health Professionals was held.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Post-Budget Webinar Breakout Session on
“Scale-up Allied Health Professionals” Discusses
Strategy to Expand Allied Healthcare Workforce
Posted On: 09 MAR 2026 2:44PM by PIB Delhi
As part of the Post-Budget Webinar series on the theme “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas – Fulfilling Aspirations
of People”, a breakout session was held on the Budget Announcement under Para 53: “Scale-up Allied
Health Professionals”. The session brought together policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, academic
experts and state representatives to deliberate on strategies for expanding allied healthcare education and
strengthening the allied health workforce in India.
The discussion focused on the Government’s ambitious initiative to add 1,00,000 Allied Health
Professionals (AHPs) over the next five years, aligning with the broader objective of improving the
accessibility, quality and sustainability of allied healthcare services and education across the country.
The session was moderated by Dr Vinod Kotwal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare, who highlighted the rising demand for allied health professionals driven by demographic
transition, increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, expansion of healthcare infrastructure and
rapid adoption of advanced medical technologies. She noted that sectors such as diagnostics, imaging,
physiotherapy, emergency care and anaesthesia technology are witnessing growing demand for skilled
allied healthcare professionals.
Dr Kotwal also outlined priority disciplines for scaling up training capacity, including Optometry,
Physiotherapy, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Dialysis Therapy, Radiology and Imaging Technology,
Radiotherapy Technology, Anaesthesia and OT Technology, Emergency Medical Technology,
Occupational Therapy, Applied Psychology and Behavioural Health and Palliative Care.
She further highlighted that India has over 500 government institutes offering around 48,000 seats, while
about 3,800 private institutes offer more than 3.6 lakh seats, with variations in infrastructure, laboratories,
equipment and trained faculty. She further stressed on the need to ensure uniform standards across all the
Institutes as laid down by the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions under the
National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021.The initiative aims to expand seats across diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes,
modernize government AHP institutions in line with NCAHP norms, strengthen laboratories and
simulation facilities, address faculty shortages and increase awareness among youth about career
opportunities in allied health professions.
The distinguished panel included Dr. Yagna Unmesh Shukla, Chairperson, National Commission for
Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP); Dr. Abhijat Chandrakant Sheth, Chairperson, National
Medical Commission (NMC); Ms. Aswathy S, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Health &
Family Welfare, Odisha; Shri Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Director General, NATHEALTH; Dr. Sanjeev
Singh, Medical Director, Amrita Group of Institutes, Faridabad; Dr. Anurag Shahi, Head of Academics,
Virohan; Dr. Sanjay Dinkar Sawant, Director, Regional Institute of Paramedical and Nursing Sciences
(RIPANS), Aizawl; Dr. D. Jagadeswaran, Dean, Allied Health Sciences, SRM Medical College Hospital &
Research Centre; Dr. Girdhar J. Gyani, Director General, Association of Healthcare Providers (India) and
Shri Rahul Singh, Director, Infrastructure Support and Development Division, Department of Economic
Affairs (DEA).
The panellists highlighted the critical role of allied health professionals in strengthening healthcare
delivery systems, particularly in areas such as diagnostics, rehabilitation, emergency care and patient
management. They appreciated the Government’s decision to add 1 lakh allied health professionals over
the next five years and welcomed the initiative to strengthen existing medical colleges so that they evolve
into comprehensive ecosystems supporting not only medical education but also allied health and
paramedical training.
The discussions underscored the importance of expanding allied healthcare education infrastructure,
standardizing curricula, strengthening regulatory mechanisms and enhancing industry–academia
collaboration. Panellists also stressed the need to increase awareness among youth about diverse career
pathways in allied and healthcare professions, making it an attractive and viable career option.
They further noted that the goal should be to mobilize a large and skilled pool of allied health
professionals across the country to meet both present and future healthcare demands, while positioning
allied health professions as respectable, professional, and rewarding career pathways. In this context, it
was suggested that existing hospitals could be leveraged and developed into allied health science teaching
and skill training hubs to expand training capacity.
The panellists also suggested strengthening faculty exchange programmes between universities and
medical colleges to address faculty shortages and enhance the quality of teaching and training in allied
health disciplines. Such collaboration can facilitate knowledge sharing, exposure to best practices and
capacity building across institutions.
It was further highlighted that the district medical colleges across the country could be leveraged as hubs
for allied health sciences, given that several components of the medical college ecosystem and curriculum
align closely with allied health science training. Utilizing these institutions as centres for allied healtheducation and skill development would significantly expand training capacity and support the large-scale
development of allied health professionals.
With the operationalization of the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP)
under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021, the regulatory
framework governing allied health education and professional standards has undergone a transformative
shift. The panellists noted that this provides a strong foundation for scaling up quality education and
ensuring standardized training across institutions.
The webinar was attended by senior officers from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, along with
representatives from NCAHP, the National Medical Commission (NMC), State Health Ministries, industry
associations, healthcare providers and faculty from leading allied healthcare institutions. It served as a
collaborative platform for dialogue between government, academia and industry stakeholders to translate
the policy vision outlined in the Union Budget into actionable strategies.
The insights and recommendations emerging from the session will contribute to shaping a robust
implementation roadmap for expanding allied healthcare education and building a skilled workforce to
support India’s evolving healthcare needs.
***
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