India now has more doctors per person than WHO recommends
India just hit a new milestone: there's now one doctor for every 811 people, beating the World Health Organization's suggested ratio of 1:1,000.
Health Minister J P Nadda shared the update in Parliament, counting both allopathic and AYUSH practitioners—about 80% are actively working.
Medical colleges and seats have nearly doubled
Since 2014, medical education in India has exploded. The number of medical colleges has almost doubled to 780, and undergraduate seats have jumped from around 51k to nearly 1.16 lakh.
Postgrad seats have also more than doubled. This means way more opportunities for future doctors.
Big gap between rural and urban healthcare remains
Even with all this progress, rural areas still lag behind—there are only three doctors per 10,000 people in villages versus 13 in cities.
The government is rolling out programs to get more specialists into rural areas and make healthcare fairer for everyone.