The government on July 12 said there were more than 19.47 lakh allopathy, ayurveda, unani and homeopathy doctors at the end of March this year.

Out of them, 11,59,309 allopathy doctors were registered with the State Medical Councils/ Medical Council of India. "Assuming 80 per cent availability, it is estimated that around 9.27 lakh doctors may be actually available for active service. "It gives a doctor-population ratio of 1:1456 per current population estimate of 1.35 billion, which is lower than the WHO (World Health Organisation) norm of 1:1000," Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan told the Lok Sabha.

He said there were 7.88 lakh Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy (AUH) doctors in the country and assuming 80 per cent availability, the number of doctors available for service would be around 6.30 lakh. "... considered together with allopathic doctors, it gives a doctor-population ratio of 1:867, which is better than the WHO norm," the minister noted. Together, there were a total of 19,47,309 doctors.