NRTS rollout incomplete: 31 lakh nurses still outside national registry, data shows
More than two-thirds of India's registered nursing workforce are yet to be brought under the Nurses Registration and Tracking System (NRTS), despite the digital platform having been introduced over seven years ago to create a national registry and streamline registration-related services.
Government data tabled in the Lok Sabha last month show that only 14.24 lakh of the country's 46.02 lakh registered nursing personnel—comprising Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs), Registered Nurses and Registered Midwives (RN & RM), and Lady Health Visitors (LHVs)—have been enrolled on the platform, leaving 31.78 lakh outside the national system.
The incomplete rollout has left many nurses waiting for months for No Objection Certificates (NOCs) required to change their place of employment, while others seeking overseas employment have encountered delays in credential verification, affecting their career opportunities and livelihoods.
The State-wise figures point to stark disparities in implementation. Karnataka, which has more than 5.58 lakh registered nursing personnel, has enrolled only around 82,000 on the NRTS. Tamil Nadu, with over 4.76 lakh registered nurses and midwives, has enrolled just 57,000, while Andhra Pradesh has brought only 92,000 of its 4.52 lakh registered personnel onto the platform.
Kerala, another State with a sizeable nursing workforce, has enrolled about 1.5 lakh of its 4.2 lakh registered personnel.
The rollout, however, has been relatively successful in a few States. Bihar has enrolled 62,020 of its 62,591 registered nursing personnel on the NRTS, making it one of the best-performing States. Jharkhand has brought 24,640 or 90% of its 27,160 registered personnel under the system, while Odisha has enrolled 78,244 out of 98,194 registered personnel.
Uneven implementation
The figures suggest that implementation has been uneven nationally. Congress MP Anto Antony recently urged Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda to complete the enrolment of all registered nurses and issue National Unique Identity (NUID) cards within six months. In a recent letter to the Health Minister on July 30, the MP said the incomplete implementation of the NRTS had caused considerable hardship to nurses, particularly those seeking NOCs, inter-State registration and verification of credentials for overseas employment.
The NRTS was launched by the Indian Nursing Council (INC) in association with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to maintain a live national register of nursing personnel and provide a common online platform for primary registration, renewal, reciprocal registration, higher qualification registration and other services.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha on July 24, the Health Ministry said nurses are enrolled on the NRTS after verification by the respective State Nursing Councils, following which they are issued NUID cards and Nurse Passbooks. It said the INC had conducted meetings with State Nursing Council registrars, organised virtual training programmes, issued online user manuals and established a dedicated helpdesk and technical support system.
Meanwhile, nursing organisations argue that the uneven implementation has undermined the very purpose of creating a centralised digital registry. The Indian Professional Nurses Association (IPNA), which has been pursuing the issue, contends that several State Nursing Registration Councils continue to process registration, renewal and reciprocal registration through their own systems instead of routing them through the NRTS, resulting in delays and duplication.
PIL in Delhi High Court
In a public interest litigation filed before the Delhi High Court in 2025, the association alleged that nurses often had to rely on middlemen and agencies to secure registration-related documents. “The intermediaries exploit them financially. Moreover, often nurses do not receive their documents on time, which affects their ability to work,” the petition said.
In May 2025, the Delhi High Court directed the Centre to respond to the plea, highlighting the need for expediting the process to ease the plight of nursing professionals. The court’s intervention comes as thousands of nurses continue to face hurdles in getting their documents processed, hampering both domestic mobility and international placement opportunities.
Experts note that a fully functional NRTS would not only benefit individual nurses but also strengthen the healthcare system by providing reliable data on the nursing workforce, enabling better planning and policy-making. The wide gap in enrolment across States also raises questions about the capacity and willingness of State nursing councils to adopt the digital platform, despite central guidelines.
As the central government works to expand the NRTS, the immediate challenge remains bridging the digital divide between States and ensuring that all registered nursing personnel are covered without further delay. The issue is particularly critical given India’s growing healthcare needs and the global demand for skilled Indian nurses.
