Now Reading: Over 30 lakh nurses yet to be registered on national digital platform NRTS
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Over 30 lakh nurses yet to be registered on national digital platform NRTS
Over 30 lakh nurses yet to be registered on national digital platform NRTS
More than two-thirds of India's 46.02 lakh registered nursing personnel have not been enrolled on the Nurses Registration and Tracking System (NRTS) despite its launch over seven years ago, government data tabled…
The Story in Brief
More than two-thirds of India's 46.02 lakh registered nursing personnel have not been enrolled on the Nurses Registration and Tracking System (NRTS) despite its launch over seven years ago, government data tabled in the Lok Sabha last month shows. Only 14.24 lakh nurses have been brought under the digital platform that was meant to create a national registry and ease registration, renewals and issuance of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for overseas jobs.
State-level figures reveal stark disparities. Karnataka has enrolled only 82,000 of its 5.58 lakh registered nurses, Tamil Nadu 57,000 of 4.76 lakh, and Kerala 1.5 lakh of 4.2 lakh. While Bihar and Jharkhand have enrolled over 90% of their personnel, the Indian Professional Nurses Association alleges that many state councils continue to use their own systems instead of routing applications through the NRTS, forcing nurses to rely on intermediaries and causing delays in overseas placements.
The Indian Opinion
The 'digital India' slogan sounds hollow when a flagship nursing registry remains a paperwork ghost after seven years. The finger-pointing between the Nursing Council and state bodies over who is to blame misses the point: nurses are still paying middlemen for NOCs abroad while politicians talk. Instead of trading accusations, they should fix the API integration so state databases talk to the national portal. A simple test: check if a nurse in Karnataka can get a duplicate registration certificate in 48 hours without visiting an office. Until that works, the promise of a national ID remains a cruel joke on the women who staff our hospitals.
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
