25. National Register and State Register.—(1) The Nursing and Midwifery Ethics and Registration
Board shall maintain an online and live Indian Nurses and Midwives' Register containing the name, address,
all recognised qualifications possessed by a nursing professional, midwifery professional, nursing associate,
midwifery associate and such other particulars as may be specified by regulations.
(2) The Nursing and Midwifery Ethics and Registration Board shall maintain the National Register in
such form, including digital form, and in such manner, as may be specified by regulations.
(3) The manner in which a name or qualification may be added to, or removed from, the National
Register and the grounds for adding thereto or removal thereof, shall be such as may be specified by
regulations.
(4) The National Register shall be a public document within the meaning of section 74 of the Indian
Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872).
(5) The Nursing and Midwifery Ethics and Registration Board shall make available the National
Register to the public in the form of a digital portal accessible on the website of the Nursing and Midwifery
Ethics and Registration Board in such manner and form as may be specified by regulations.
(6) Every State Commission shall maintain and regularly update, in digital form, the State Register for
Nursing Professionals and Midwifery Professionals and the State Register for Nursing Associates and
Midwifery Associates in the specified digital format and supply a physical copy of the same to the Nursing
and Midwifery Ethics and Registration Board within three months of the commencement of this Act.
(7) The Nursing and Midwifery Ethics and Registration Board shall ensure dynamic and electronic
synchronisation of the National Register and the State Registers in such a manner that any change in one
register is automatically reflected in the other register.
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26. Rights of persons to have licence to practice and to be enrolled in National Register or State
Register for Nursing and Midwifery Professionals and their obligations thereto.—(1) Any person
having a recognised nursing and midwifery qualification shall have his name and qualifications enrolled in
the National Register or the State Register for Nursing and Midwifery Professionals, as the case may be,
and shall be granted a licence to practice in such manner and following such procedures, as may be specified
by regulations:
Provided that a person, who has been registered in the Nurses Register maintained under the Indian
Nursing Council Act, 1947 (48 of 1947) prior to the coming into force of this Act, shall be deemed to have
been registered under this Act and be enrolled in the National Register or the State Register for Nursing
and Midwifery Professionals, as the case may be, maintained under this Act.
(2) A citizen of India, who has obtained a nursing and midwifery qualification recognised under
section 29 or section 32 from a nursing and midwifery institution established in a country outside India,
shall be entitled for registration under this Act in such manner as may be specified by regulations.
(3) When a person, whose name is entered in the National Register or any State Register, as the case
may be, obtains any title, diploma or other qualification for proficiency in nursing sciences or public health
nursing, which is a recognised nursing and midwifery qualification under section 28 or section 29, as the
case may be, he shall be entitled to have such title, diploma or qualification entered against his name in the
National Register or the same State Register, as the case may be, in such manner as may be specified by
regulations.
(4) The registration and licence granted under this section shall be renewed in such manner as may be
specified by regulations.
27. Bar to practice.—(1) No person, other than a person who is enrolled in the National Register or
State Register, shall—
(a) be allowed to practice nursing or midwifery as a qualified nursing or midwifery professional or
nursing or midwifery associate;
(b) be entitled to give evidence at any inquest or in any court of law as an expert under section 42
of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872) on any matter relating to nursing and midwifery:
Provided that a foreign citizen who is enrolled in his country as a nursing and midwifery
professional in accordance with the law regulating the registration of nursing and midwifery
professional in that country may be permitted temporary registration in India for such period and in
such manner as may be specified by regulations.
(2) Any person who contravenes any of the provisions of this section shall be punished with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees,
or with both.