The Delhi Medical Council (DMC) has plunged into administrative chaos following the resignation of its Registrar, Dr Girish Tyagi, leaving hundreds of medical professionals stranded in career purgatory with nowhere to turn.
According to Medical Dialogues, the registration process for new doctors has come to a complete halt, with an alarming backlog of 300-400 applications piling up as days turn into weeks and weeks into months.
"This is unprecedented," Health Activist Dr Dhruv Chauhan told Medical Dialogues. "I've spoken with various officials in and outside DMC, and none of them know when a new Registrar will be appointed. Young doctors are watching their careers stall in real-time," he added.
The fallout is devastating across the medical community: Fresh MBBS graduates cannot receive their licenses to practice, doctors seeking to relocate are unable to obtain necessary No-Objection Certificates, and medical students find their internships indefinitely postponed – creating a bottleneck that threatens to choke the entire healthcare ecosystem in the capital.
Dr Vrishank Gupta, a recent graduate from NDMC Medical College, embodies the frustration felt by many: "I've completed all my paperwork and verification but still haven't received my permanent registration. I'm qualified to save lives, but bureaucratically, I don't exist as a doctor."
The leadership crisis stems from allegations of financial misconduct and appointment irregularities that prompted a government show-cause notice and threatened the dissolution of the Council under the Delhi Medical Council Act 1997. Dr Tyagi's subsequent resignation has left the DMC effectively decapitated.
DMC Vice-President Dr Naresh Chawla points fingers at government inaction: "We submitted potential candidates earlier this month, but there's been no decision. At minimum, a temporary appointment could prevent complete paralysis of operations."
Meanwhile, Dr Rohan Krishnan of the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA) cites political interference as the root cause, claiming the BJP government's actions against council leadership have created this crisis. He calls for immediate elections and reconstitution of the council to restore functionality.
As the standoff continues, it's the youngest members of Delhi's medical community who bear the brunt of this administrative failure — their careers and Delhi's healthcare future hanging precariously in the balance.