New Delhi: Outside the reception area of the Delhi Medical Council (DMC), medical professionals clutching files of official documents wait anxiously—some visibly frustrated by delays, others confused by the lack of clarity around their registration status.
An MBBS graduate from Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College & Hospital in Bihar’s Gaya was at the DMC office for the third time Friday. He had applied for registration at the DMC in mid-April and was assigned a document verification date of 2 June.
“But when I came that day, there was complete chaos,” he told ThePrint, not wishing to be named. “We were told the staff was on strike due to non-payment of salaries, and there was nothing we could do but leave.”
Soon after, the council’s website went down, further complicating matters.
Now back for verification, he remains uncertain about when he’ll receive his registration certificate. “There’s no clarity,” he said. “Even if the verification happens today, without a registrar or authorised signatory, who will issue the (registration) certificate?”
The state medical regulatory body has been in disarray following its dissolution by the Delhi government over the registrar’s appointment—a move that has left hundreds of medical professionals, especially fresh graduates, in limbo.
According to a show-cause notice issued by the Delhi health department on 6 February, 2025, the council failed to submit a panel of names for appointment of a new registrar and deputy registrar, as required by law.
Instead, in violation of government directives, the council unilaterally extended the tenure of former registrar Dr Girish Tyagi in November 2024 who had reached the retirement age. The notice pointed out that no relief had been granted by the Delhi High Court in the case Tyagi had filed for enhancement of retirement age.
The notice, accessed by ThePrint, warned that if these irregularities were not rectified, the government may proceed to dissolve the Delhi Medical Council entirely under provisions of the Delhi Medical Council Act, 1997.
Delhi health minister Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh confirmed to ThePrint that the current council has been dissolved and that a formal inquiry into its functioning is under way.
“There were many shortcomings and irregularities. We’ve already initiated an inquiry, and once that is complete, elections will be conducted according to the law,” he said.
However, council members told ThePrint that no official notification had been received regarding the dissolution, so it remains unclear when the dissolution actually took place.
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‘I can’t wait that long’
With the registrar’s post lying vacant after Tyagi resigned in February post the show-cause notice, the council’s operations have slowed to a crawl, further hampered by a website outage.
The registration process that once took 15 to 20 days now stretches into months, jeopardising careers and job opportunities.
Sanib Pasha, who completed his MBBS studies this year from Agra’s FH Medical College, faced difficulties registering with the DMC during the website outage on 2 June. “I got a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Uttar Pradesh Medical Council within 5 days. The process was smooth,” he told ThePrint.
An NOC is an official document that confirms that the council of the state has no objection to a registered doctor applying for registration or employment in another state or medical council.
Pasha has finally managed to book a slot for document verification at the DMC for 26 June. But he fears the process could still take weeks. “Even after the in-person verification, given the current situation at the DMC, it might take another few weeks to get a registration certificate,” he said.
Ankita, who completed post-graduation studies and senior residency in obstetrics and gynaecology from Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi, faced similar issues. She is set to join the MCh programme at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, this session and requires an NOC from the DMC.
“The website outage caused a delay, and now the application status is pending. I don’t think that I will be able to join in time,” she said.
The DMC website has since become operational.
Another MBBS graduate from Bihar, who applied for registration with the DMC around 15 May, told ThePrint she had been forced to visit the council three times already. She was initially given the document verification date of 2 June.
“We were clearly told that the DMC isn’t functioning because the website is down,” she said. “We even requested them to at least complete the verification for students who had already registered—but it was no use.”
She returned on 6 June, only to be denied entry into the premises.
Now, on her third visit Friday, she said officials asked her to register again, claiming her documents were incomplete.
“I applied on a probationary basis and don’t need an NOC from the UP Medical Council, but they’re insisting on it. They’re just trying to stall the process,” she alleged.
She said the next available slot for verification was in August. “I can’t wait that long—I need a job,” she said.
For want of registrar
According to DMC members, the root cause of the administrative standstill is the absence of a registrar—a key statutory post that has remained vacant since February.
“Since there was no registrar, there’s no authorised signatory. All financial matters came to a halt,” one member told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity. “So far, we were managing on goodwill. But after some time, even routine operations like registration had to be stopped.”
Another official from the DMC told ThePrint that the executive committee has now appointed Dr Ashwini Goyal as the interim signatory.
“All members have been informed. Salaries of employees have been released. We’ve also notified the government and sent an official communication,” the official said.
However, he clarified that the interim signatory has not been authorised to approve all financial transactions. “We still have pending payments amounting to at least Rs 7-8 crore,” he said.
He acknowledged the challenges, adding that if the DMC website remained non-functional, doctors would face difficulties, and if the staff don’t receive salaries, office operations are affected. “So far, only three payments have been cleared,” he added.
The registrar of the DMC, a statutory officer appointed with the approval of the Delhi government, also functions as the secretary and executive officer.
The registrar is responsible for recording minutes, managing official correspondence, maintaining the medical register, overseeing finances, and supervising staff. Without this key position filled, these functions have come to a grinding halt.
Dr Tyagi said the DMC had recommended the name of Dr Vijay Dhankar as interim registrar on 10 March. “For one month, the president of the council has the power to nominate someone. So, the executive committee sent a name to the Delhi government for approval,” he told ThePrint.
However, the file appears to be in bureaucratic limbo. “Several letters have been sent to the department of health seeking approval for the proposed registrar, but no response has come so far,” Tyagi said.
The financial implications of the leadership vacuum are becoming evident. “Salaries of employees haven’t been paid for the last three months,” Tyagi added.
Legal expenses, GST payments, electricity bills—none of it has been cleared. Even website maintenance was being handled by external vendors, who eventually halted services due to non-payment, according to Tyagi.
Uncertainty over DMC’s future
The larger uncertainty about the council’s future has added to the confusion.
One of the members questioned the lack of an interim arrangement. “If you are going to dissolve a body, at least set up a new one. Who’s going to run things until elections are held?” he asked.
According to DMC members, the council has not received any official notification about the dissolution. They said they were simply informed by the Delhi health minister when they went to meet him that the file for dissolution approval had been sent to the Lieutenant Governor and a response is awaited.
The DMC was established under the Delhi Medical Council Act, 1997, as a statutory body responsible for regulating the practice of modern medicine in Delhi.
Its responsibilities include maintaining a live register of medical practitioners, ensuring ethical conduct, taking disciplinary action in cases of professional misconduct, and protecting the rights of both doctors and patients.
The council comprises a blend of elected and nominated representatives: nine members are elected by registered medical practitioners—including one by the Delhi Medical Association—four are nominated by the Delhi government, and one member is elected by the faculty of each medical college in Delhi.
Additionally, the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Delhi University and the Director of Health Services serve as ex-officio members. The president and vice-president are elected from among the members for a five-year term, and the president heads the executive committee, which handles administrative decisions.
Dr Dhruv Chauhan, national spokesperson for the Indian Medical Association, strongly criticised the Delhi government’s inaction.
“The current government is not interested in resolving the issues the DMC is facing. The council is non-functional, and as a result, many doctors are suffering,” he told ThePrint.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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Similarly, Medical council of India (MCI) was dissolved due to corruption, many years back. The then president of MCI (Dr Ketan Desai) was forced to resign by the orders of President of India after his refusal to resign.
Why there is corruption in regulatory body governing medical education and professionals, which led destruction of fundamental of high intellectual, knowledge and pivotal medical field in India! Is it due to colonial, hence close mindset or instinct which drive us to misuse authority irrespective of impact on India?