Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, two states that lead the country in industrial and development parametres, have announced contrasting models of practice for doctors and healthcare professionals.
While Andhra Pradesh recently passed an order welcoming qualified doctors registered with the medical council of any state or Union Territory to practice in the state without additional local registration or a No Objection Certificate (NoC), Maharashtra has enforced stringent norms for clinical practice.
Among medical professionals in AP, Maharashtra, and neighbouring states, this has revived the debate over a national registration framework for medical practice in India.
In Andhra, doctors, allied healthcare professionals, and the medical industry called the state’s new policy announced on 11 June—enforced via Government Order Ms No. 81—a pragmatic move toward a more mobile and responsive healthcare workforce.
The policy detailed in the order aims to ease medical practice by allowing qualified medical professionals greater choice in moving to AP, which offers opportunities in medical tourism and MedTech innovation.
The order read: “…any person possessing a recognized medical qualification and holding a valid registration with any State Medical Council or Union Territory Medical Council in India shall be permitted to practice in the State of Andhra Pradesh”.
With this, Andhra Pradesh becomes the first state to remove registration barriers for doctors from across India.
However, Maharashtra, which also introduced its new rules in June, removed the need for doctors to obtain an NOC themselves but retained registration and verification requirements. The Maharashtra Medical Council now directly seeks verification from the parent state council and grants provisional registration pending clearance.
Officials from Andhra Pradesh’s Department of Health and Family Welfare, which amended the existing regulation, stated that the new laws follow the National Medical Commission’s proposal to examine the Armed Forces Medical Services’ request to allow doctors to practice across the country based on a single registration.
Dr Vijay Kumar Kurukuri, President of the Andhra Super-Speciality Hospitals Association, explained that decades earlier, states required multiple registrations and permissions because of the risk of many universities awarding fake medical degrees. However, with the advent of the online registration portal and the Medical Council of India implementing strict measures to prevent fraudulent practices, states have introduced new norms to reform this sector, he said.
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Healthcare state subject
Healthcare is a state subject, and all the states came under the purview of the Medical Council of India in 1956 after the Indian Medical Council Act was passed.
While the act did not centralise health services, the MCI sets national guidelines, and states continue to monitor the medicine and medical practices for their ethical standards. Back then, every state made it compulsory for doctors to register in their state.
However, with the centre now introducing the One Nation One Registration and One Health initiative, Andhra becomes the first state to implement a bold move to help doctors transit boundaries.
Dr Rajiv Kumar Jain, Senior Advisor, One Health, and Neglected Tropical Diseases, said that states could continue to obtain particulars, declarations and information through their online portals as may be required for verification and maintenance of records.
Dr Vijay Kurukuri told ThePrint. “The new rules have done away with paying an additional fee to the Andhra State Medical Council to obtain a licence. However, a doctor from another state will have to register with the local District Medical Health Officer (DMHO) and inform the authority of where he is practising.”
Private medical hospitals will also need to inform the DMHO if a new practitioner from outside AP is employed, and the DMHO also has the authority to assign unemployed doctors to a certain district or geographic region if there is a shortage of medical professionals.
The APMC will also collect necessary declarations and records through their online portal for maintenance and tracking, rather than requiring physical deregistration and re-registration.
Dr Avinash Chilukuri, who runs Usha Prime Hospitals in Anakapalli in Andhra Pradesh, added that the new rules will help the state integrate with the Centre’s efforts to create a national digital health record.
“This…avoids duplication, aligns with PM Modi’s 2047 healthcare vision as a national priority, and allows schemes such as Aarogyasri to be integrated into Ayushman Bharat, where the state and the centre can jointly deliver quality healthcare for those who need state assistance,” he said.
Andhra’s healthcare officials told ThePrint that the new rules were in line with chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s universal healthcare scheme, where health considered a fundamental right.
“If the state-sponsored universal healthcare for all needs to be implemented, then red tape needs to be addressed. Also, with the acute rise in lifestyle disorders, we wanted to ensure the problem of doctor shortage was addressed immediately. The larger goal is also to ensure we draw doctors and healthcare professionals to study patterns to map pandemics and epidemics sooner than they affect us,” the senior official said.
The policy has been hailed for potentially allowing greater absorption of doctors into tier-2 and tier-3 regions, where doctor availability is an issue. Specialists argued for an immediate deployment of doctors, even as guardrails entailing the automated verification processes were underway.
However, a few medical management professionals who run hospital chains said the state needs to ensure this policy does not lead to diluting of standards and accountability.
Dr Devanand Kolothodi, Co-founder, Nextenti, an AI-powered healthcare recruitment platform that connects healthcare organisations, said, “This policy is a welcome step toward the goal of ‘One Nation, Seamless Medical Practice. The true test, as always, will lie in its implementation, ensuring that ease of movement
is supported by clear, digitally verifiable guardrails that maintain the highest level of patient safety. However, reducing administrative friction should never result in the dilution of accountability.”
Strong objections were raised by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which released a statement that state registrations and deregistrations are statutory duties of the State Medical Council under the State Legislature Act, meant to work in strict concurrence with the National Medical Commission (NMC).
Dr Ambati Naga Radhakrishna Yadav said, “The state dangerously and completely dismantles Andhra’s medical regulatory framework.”
The Maharashtra way
Historically, like other state governments, Maharashtra required doctors to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their parent state medical council and apply for an additional license with the MMC before they began practising in the state.
However, when the MMC passed its guidelines legislation on 5 June, allowing doctors from other states to practice in Maharashtra, it reserved its right to directly
verify doctors’ credentials with their parent state council.
Practitioners can apply directly through the MMC portal and submit a self-declared undertaking. Upon submission, they will receive provisional registration to practice while awaiting clearance from the parent state. The RN number is valid for 90 days from the date of issue, pending receipt of the internal NOC/verification from the parent council.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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