National Medical Commission Bill Move Opposed By IMA; 10 Points

The Council of Ministers approved the National Medical Commission Bill, 2017 on Friday, to ensure transparency, to replace the existing medical education regulator, Indian Medical Council (MCI) with a new body.

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the National Medical Commission Bill, 2017, to ensure transparency, to replace the existing medical education regulator, Indian Medical Council (MCI) with a new body. According to Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, this process is being done to cure the entire medical ecosystem. At present, MCI is a statutory body similar to medical education in India and establishment of higher standards, but with the introduction of this draft bill, the MCI will be replaced with a new commission.

Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the largest doctors in India, yesterday demanded the rollback of the National Medical Commission, claiming that it would cripate the medical profession.

1. The PTI reported that this bill has been provided for the constitution of four autonomous boards, which is responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate education, assessment and accreditation of medical institutions and registration of physicians under National Medical Commission (NMC).
2. The draft bill proposes a common entrance examination and a licensed examination in which all medical graduates will need to clarify for getting the license, an official said.
3. According to the provisions of the draft bill, there will be no permissions for adding new seats or starting postgraduate courses, PTI said.
4. According to the draft bill, the commission will be the designated president and members of the government, and the members of the board will be selected by a search committee under the cabinet secretary. Five are elected in the commission and 12 will be ex-officio members.
5. According to the IMA, MMC has “crippled” the functioning of the medical profession by making it fully accountable for bureaucratic and non-medical administrators. Dr. K. K. Agarwal, President of Indian Medical Association (IMA) appealed to the Prime Minister to amend the draft bill in the larger interest of the medical profession.
6. According to the official, unlike the claims of Mr. Agrawal, the new body will be directed to doctors and experts related to related areas, which can suggest instructions given to medical education in the country so that the quality of education is equal. With global standards but first it was stated that “Regulators in the new body will be selected and will not be elected”
7. The bill abolishes the MCI and “possibly” Section 15 of the IMC Act, which says that the basic qualification to practice modern medicine is MBBS, claimed Mr. Agarwal. He also said that the bill takes away the voting right of every doctor in India to elect their medical council. Any registered medical practitioner in the country can contest the election and every qualified doctor can vote.
8. Agarwal also said that the draft bill, in its present form, allows private medical colleges to charge on the wish, whatever solutions brought by NEET.
9. He said that after getting the qualification in the final MBBS examination, it is an injustice to start a medical license examination. He said, “It is extremely insensitive towards the plight of medical students who have to go through long and annoying academic career with other competitive examinations.”
10. In July 2016, a high-level committee headed by then-headed Vice President Arvind Pangarai had proposed to eliminate MCI and replace it with NMC. A three-member committee again proposed to set up a new body with a three dimensional approach – career, enterprise and ethics.