Concerns about quality of health care, unemployment, as RMPs in Keralam cross one-lakh mark
As many as 31,446 doctors got their registrations between 2021 and 2025, show data from the Kerala State Medical Councils
The number of registered medical practitioners (RMPs) in Kerala has surpassed the one-lakh mark, according to data from the Kerala State Medical Councils (KSMC) collected up to October 8, 2026. Out of the 1,13,023 RMPs, 31,446 doctors received their registrations between 2021 and 2025. K.V. Babu, an ophthalmologist and public health activist, estimates that at least 95,993 doctors have been added to the register in the past 27 years.
With Kerala's population at around 3.62 crore, this translates to one MBBS doctor for every 450 people.
The rapid increase in RMPs has raised concerns about the quality of healthcare and unemployment among medical graduates. Dr. Babu warns that the situation may lead to vacant seats in deemed-to-be universities in Tamil Nadu, where hundreds of MBBS seats have opened up after the final round of counselling for undergraduate medical courses. He urges the government to examine this issue before approving new medical colleges.
M.N. Menon, president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in Kerala, notes that around 5,000 graduates graduate from medical colleges in the state annually, with an additional 2,000 passing out from other regions. Currently, the state is grappling with an unemployment problem among new medical graduates. Instead of granting permission for new medical colleges, Dr. Menon suggests that the government should enhance infrastructure in existing institutions, recruit qualified faculty members, and address the shortage of doctors and staff in government hospitals and medical colleges.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
