Too many doctors? Rs 15/patient ad for tele-health unit goes viral, sparks debate in medical circles
Times of India | 22 November 2025
Kolkata: An advertisement seeking doctors for tele-consultation for a fee of Rs 15 has sparked a debate within the medical community about the number of doctors being churned out and their distribution across cities and villages.
The advertisement, issued recently purportedly by a private sector biggie, seeks to hire doctors who have an MBBS degree with a valid registration from the Medical Council of India (now National Medical Commission) for its tele-health unit. According to the advertisement, a doctor will get Rs 15 for each patient served in two minutes. It has set a target that each doctor, working from home, can give consultation to 20 patients per hour.
Senior physicians, particularly those who have been working in the public healthcare system for long, state that the advertisement highlights several issues plaguing India's medical education system. "We could never have imagined that a day would come when a medical graduate would be employed more like a tele-caller," said Sourav Dutta, an onco surgeon with two decades' experience. "I feel bad for the recent graduates, especially those who may not get an opportunity to study MD or MS," he added.
Currently, Bengal has about 14 private medical colleges that churn out over 2,000 graduates every year; this is in addition to over 4,000 graduating from 28 state-run medical colleges.
The private sector healthcare group later clarified on social media that the "hiring advertisement" was issued by an employee who was not authorised to do so. Medical fraternity seniors, however, said the issues discussed following the advertisement were "important and relevant", irrespective of who posted it on social media.
The issues flagged by many from the medical fraternity have more to do with the distribution of doctors across urban and rural centres than the number of medical graduates.
Yogiraj Roy, head of the infectious disease department at SSKM, said, "Quantity is there when it comes to mushrooming of private medical colleges in the country. But quality still remains a question even if the number of medical seats has increased over the years. Medical education calls for a ‘gurukul' system where hands-on learning is important."
WHO puts the ideal doctor-patient ratio at 1:1,000 (one doctor for every 1,000 population). India, by the latest count, has over 13 lakh doctors for its 145 crore population, which comes to an estimated doctor-patient ratio of 1:834, according to NMC sources.
Adhish Basu, a plastic surgeon at a leading private hospital, said, "Today's MBBS pass-outs often lack the hands-on training needed for real-world emergencies — not due to any shortage of talent, but because training has been diluted in the rush to meet the WHO-prescribed ratio. Numbers mean little without quality teaching and proper clinical exposure."
Basu also pointed out the corporate-driven expansion of medical education, which "burdens students with heavy costs, and we end up with a surplus of half-baked doctors compelled to toe corporate lines simply to recover their investment."
An overwhelming majority of doctors prefer to stay and work in urban centres. Several state administrations, including Bengal, have tried numerous ways to make doctors, especially fresh graduates, work in villages.
For instance, Bengal has a rule that mandates a service bond for doctors completing their post-graduation or super-specialisation in state-run medical colleges. The bond requires the doctors to serve in govt-designated rural or semi-urban hospitals for a specific period after completing the course.
Sujit Bose, a senior doctor at a private hospital, said, "The distribution of doctors is not balanced. The number of medical colleges and seats might have gone up... but the outcome is not reflected in the quality of healthcare services."
The lack of opportunities in rural outposts is a huge deterrent for young doctors willing to work in villages. "Working in villages can set you back materially if you want to apply for postgraduate studies,"said a fresh medical graduate.