Policy & Regulation

60% of India's Healthcare Workforce Has No Regulatory Clarity — India House Just Handed the Government a Plan to Fix It

By BHC, Editor in Chief · April 01, 2026 · 5 min read

BHC, Editor in Chief — 60% of India's Healthcare Workforce Has No Regulatory Clarity — India House Just Handed the Government a Plan to Fix It

Summary

  • Allied Health Professionals make up 60% of India's healthcare workforce but face regulatory gaps under the NCAHP Act 2021. India House's report to MoHFW outlines a roadmap for fixing the implementation failures.

When people talk about India's healthcare workforce, they typically mean doctors and nurses. But the functioning of any modern healthcare facility depends on an enormous range of other professionals: physiotherapists who restore mobility after stroke and surgery, laboratory technicians who process the diagnostic samples that drive clinical decisions, radiographers who operate the imaging equipment that physicians rely on, and rehabilitation specialists who deliver the structured recovery care that determines long-term patient outcomes.

"India has taken a strong step in structuring the allied healthcare sector. The opportunity lies in ensuring implementation is as clear as the policy intent."

These are Allied and Healthcare Professionals — a category that constitutes nearly 60% of India's total healthcare workforce. And despite being the numerical backbone of the system, they operate in a regulatory environment that is, to put it plainly, a mess. Registration pathways are unclear. Standards vary wildly between states and institutions. Clinical training infrastructure is inadequate. And the regulatory framework meant to address all of this — the NCAHP Act, 2021 — has been on the books for five years without consistent on-ground implementation.

**The India House Report

India House, an organisation working at the intersection of policy and healthcare, has submitted a comprehensive industry report — titled 'Strengthening Allied & Healthcare Capacity' — to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the National Commission for Allied & Healthcare Professions. The report was launched in the presence of over 60 experts drawn from government, healthcare providers, academia, industry bodies, and civil society.

Among the notable attendees: Sh. Sampath Kumar, Principal Secretary, Government of Meghalaya; Dr. Prasad V.G., Commission Member, NCAHP; Dr. Amit Patel, Committee Member of NCAHP and Gujarat State Allied & Healthcare Council; and Sh. Kamal Pant, Chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh State Allied & Healthcare Council. The range of stakeholders represented reflects the genuine cross-sector urgency behind the report's recommendations.

**What the Report Identifies

The report identifies three primary categories of implementation failure. First, institutional registration processes are unclear — AHP training institutions are unable to navigate the registration requirements under the new NCAHP framework, creating delays, compliance gaps, and in some cases, continued operation under legacy structures that the NCAHP Act was meant to replace. Second, there is a fundamental gap between regulatory norms and university systems — the academic structures through which AHPs are trained were built under different regulatory assumptions, and aligning them with NCAHP requirements requires coordination that has not happened effectively. Third, clinical training infrastructure is underdeveloped — the practical training environments that AHPs need to meet competency standards are not consistently available, particularly in smaller cities and rural areas.

**What the Report Recommends

The report's recommendations cluster around three themes: simplify admission pathways to reduce friction for prospective AHP students and institutions; improve coordination between the NCAHP, academic institutions, and state-level councils; and ensure smoother alignment between old and new regulatory frameworks through a structured transition process.

Kumar Subham, Co-Founder and CEO of India House, frames the submission as a bridge-building exercise: the policy direction is clear, but implementation at the ground level is where the system is failing. The report is designed to give policymakers a specific, actionable map of where the friction points are and how to address them.

**Why This Matters for the Healthcare Ecosystem

India's ability to scale its healthcare system — to meet the demands of a 1.4 billion population with rising chronic disease burden and growing expectations of care quality — depends on having a well-trained, well-regulated, and adequately deployed allied healthcare workforce. The gap is not theoretical. Hospital operators report significant difficulty finding reliably credentialed physiotherapists, lab technicians, and rehabilitation professionals. Startups building platforms that connect AHPs with patients or providers face the additional challenge of verifying qualifications in a system where credentialing is inconsistent.

Regulatory clarity for AHPs — which the NCAHP Act promises and the India House report is pushing to deliver — is a prerequisite for building a professional, scalable allied health market in India.

**BHC Perspective

At Bengaluru Health Community, the allied healthcare workforce gap is one of the most underreported structural problems in Indian healthcare. It directly affects hospital operations, startup hiring, and the quality of care that patients receive across every speciality. We will be tracking the MoHFW's response to the India House report closely, and we expect significant policy activity in this space in H2 2026. For founders building in workforce platforms, credentialing technology, or clinical training — the allied health segment is one of the most important and underserved opportunities in the entire Indian healthcare market.

**Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the NCAHP Act 2021?
A: The National Commission for Allied & Healthcare Professions Act 2021 is India's legislation designed to bring regulatory structure to the allied healthcare professions — including physiotherapists, laboratory technicians, radiographers, and rehabilitation specialists — who constitute nearly 60% of India's healthcare workforce.

Q: What does the India House report to MoHFW recommend?
A: The report recommends simplifying admission pathways for AHP training institutions, improving coordination between the NCAHP and university systems, and ensuring smoother alignment between old and new regulatory frameworks to address on-ground implementation failures.

Q: Why is the allied healthcare workforce important for Indian healthcare?
A: Allied Health Professionals constitute nearly 60% of India's healthcare workforce, providing essential services in diagnostics, therapy, rehabilitation, and hospital operations. Regulatory clarity for this workforce is a prerequisite for scaling India's healthcare system to meet population demand.