**Executive Summary**
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has implemented initiatives to address the shortage of doctors and healthcare resources. These include the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for establishing new medical colleges, which has approved 157 colleges (137 functional), and the National Health Mission (NHM), which provides financial, technical, and human resource incentives to States/UTs. The information was posted on February 3, 2026.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS):**
* Focuses on establishing new medical colleges attached to existing district/referral hospitals, prioritizing underserved and aspirational districts.
* Fund sharing ratio between Centre and States is 90:10 for North Eastern and Special Category States and 60:40 for others.
* 157 Government medical colleges approved under the scheme, with 137 already functional.
* **National Health Mission (NHM):**
* Provides financial and technical support to States/UTs to strengthen healthcare systems based on Programme Implementation Plans.
* Offers incentives and honorarium to encourage healthcare service providers.
* **Incentives and Honorarium under NHM:**
* Hard area allowance for specialist doctors serving in rural areas.
* Honorarium for Gynecologists/ Emergency Obstetric Care (EmoC) trained, Pediatricians & Anesthetist/ Life Saving Anaesthesia Skills (LSAS) trained doctors to increase availability of specialists in rural & remote areas.
* Incentives for doctors and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) for ensuring timely Antenatal Care checkup and recording, for conducting Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health activities.
* States can offer negotiable salary to attract specialists ("You Quote We Pay").
* Non-monetary incentives such as preferential admission in post graduate courses for staff serving in difficult areas and improved accommodation arrangements in rural areas.
* Multi-skilling of doctors is supported to overcome specialist shortages.
* **Vacant Post Details (Central Government Hospitals):**
* Vardhman Mahavir Medical College & Safdarjung Hospital (VMMC & SJH)
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences & Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (ABVIMS & Dr. RMLH)
* Lady Hardinge Medical College & Associated Hospitals (LHMC & Associated Hospitals)
* Rural Health Training Centre (RHTC)
*Details are provided on: Sanctioned (S), Filled (F), and Vacant (V) posts for doctors, nursing personnel, and paramedical staff.*
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: State Governments**
* **Impact:** Responsible for ensuring the availability of doctors and healthcare resources in state government hospitals.
* **Action Required:** Make efforts to ensure availability of doctors and healthcare resources, and submit Programme Implementation Plans to NHM to strengthen healthcare systems.
**Stakeholder: Doctors, Nurses, and Paramedical Staff**
* **Impact:** Potential recipients of incentives and honorariums for service in rural areas and participation in training programs.
* **Action Required:** Consider serving in rural areas to avail of incentives, participate in training programs to enhance skills, and seek preferential admission in postgraduate courses if serving in difficult areas.
**Stakeholder: States/UTs**
* **Impact:** Receive financial and technical support under the NHM to strengthen healthcare systems.
* **Action Required:** Strengthen their healthcare systems by using financial and technical support under NHM and submit Programme Implementation Plans to NHM.
Key Entities Referenced
National Health Mission (NHM): A program providing financial, technical, and human resource incentives to States/UTs to strengthen healthcare systems and address workforce shortages.
Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for 'Establishment of new medical colleges: A scheme for establishing new medical colleges attached to existing district/referral hospitals.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: The ministry responsible for administering the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS).
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Steps taken to address shortage of Doctors and
Healthcare Resources
Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for
'Establishment of new medical colleges, 157 Government
Medical Colleges Approved; 137 Already Functional
National Health Mission Provides Financial, Technical and
Human Resource Incentives to States/UTs for Strengthening
Healthcare Systems and Addressing Workforce Shortages
Posted On: 03 FEB 2026 2:18PM by PIB Delhi
‘Public Health’ & ‘Hospitals’ are State subjects. Accordingly, respective State Governments make efforts
for ensuring availability of doctors and healthcare resources in government hospitals across the country.
Information related to vacant posts of doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff in State Government
Hospitals is not maintained centrally.
So far as Central Government hospitals i.e. Vardhman Mahavir Medical College & Safdarjung Hospital
(VMMC & SJH), Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences & Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital
(ABVIMS & Dr. RMLH), Lady Hardinge Medical College & Associated Hospitals (LHMC & Associated
Hospitals), and Rural Health Training Centre (RHTC) are concerned, details of vacant posts of doctors,
nurses, and paramedical staff, as informed by these hospitals, are as under:
Sl.No. Name of Doctors Nursing Personnel Paramedical Staff
Hospital
S F V S F V S F V
1. VMMC & 632 513 119 2759 2342 417 162 122 40
SJH
2. ABVIMS 453 351 102 1559 1459 100 498 344 154
& Dr.
RMLH3. LHMC & 386 298 88 1181 959 222 631 384 247
Asso.
Hospitals
4. RHTC 46 30 16 41 05 36 90 48 42
*S- Sanctioned, F- Filled, V- Vacant
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare administers a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for
'Establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals' with preference to
underserved areas and aspirational districts, where there is no existing Government or private medical
college. The fund sharing mechanism between the Centre and State Governments is in the ratio of 90:10
for North Eastern and Special Category States, and 60:40 for others. Under the Scheme, 157 Government
medical colleges have already been approved. Out of which, 137 medical colleges have become
functional.
Also, under National Health Mission (NHM), financial and technical support is provided to the States/UTs
to strengthen their healthcare systems based on the Programme Implementation Plans submitted by the
States/UTs within their overall resource envelope. In order to address shortage of human resources, under
NHM, the types of incentives and honorarium provided for encouraging healthcare service providers.
Types of incentives and honorarium provided for encouraging doctors and other staff to address
shortage of human resources under National Health Mission (NHM)
(i) Hard area allowance to specialist doctors for serving in rural and remote areas.
(ii) Honorarium to Gynecologists/ Emergency Obstetric Care (EmoC) trained, Pediatricians & Anesthetist/
Life Saving Anaesthesia Skills (LSAS) trained doctors is also provided to increase availability of
specialists in rural & remote areas.
(iii) Incentives for doctors and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) for ensuring timely Antenatal Care
checkup and recording, for conducting Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health activities.
(iv) States are also allowed to offer negotiable salary to attract specialists including flexibility in strategies
such as “You Quote We Pay”.
(v) Non-Monetary incentives such as preferential admission in post graduate courses for staff serving in
difficult areas and improving accommodation arrangement in rural areas have also been introduced under
NHM.
(vi) Multi-skilling of doctors is supported under NHM to overcome the shortage of specialists. Skill
upgradation of existing human resources is another major strategy under NHM for achieving improvement
in health outcomes.The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Prataprao Jadhav stated this in a written
reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
****
SR
HFW/ Steps taken to address shortage of Doctors/3 February 2026/4
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