The country’s strong doctors’ lobby is opposing the Centre’s move to bring about transparency and efficiency in the medical education sector by promulgating the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, superseding the Medical Council of India (MCI).
Indian Medical Association (IMA), the main umbrella body of over 2.5 lakh doctors, wants the election process of MCI to continue. The election to MCI has already been announced as the tenure of 60 out of 103 members is coming to an end in the next two-three months.
IMA Action Committee, which held an emergency session recently in Mumbai, condemned the “suppression” of MCI and termed the government move as “unwarranted and mala fide”. The committee has also decided to resist the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill.
IMA is shielding the MCI despite the fact that it has a long history of failures. It has been placed under the supervision of five court- and government-appointed bodies. However, the doctors’ lobby fears that their power would be lost in the new system.
According to an IMA statement, directors of major national institutions would hardly find time to administer more than 450 medical colleges and their PG and UG courses. “IMA is convinced that suppression of MCI is only a smoke screen and is a ploy to prepare the ground for NMC and sabotage the democratic process of MCI… IMA will continue its resistance to the NMC Bill. Any intentions of the NMC Bill implemented through the appointed Board of Governors will be opposed by the IMA,” the statement said.
The government promulgated the Ordinance to supersede the MCI with NMC, whose powers have been vested in a Board of Governors. Presently, Dr V.K. Paul is the chairman and Dr Sanjay Shrivastava is the general secretary of the board, while Drs Randeep Guleria, Jagat Ram, B.N. Gangadhar, Nikhil Tandon, Balram Bhargava and S. Venkatesh are its members.
Based on the 92nd report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare and the recommendations of a Group of Experts, the government introduced the NMC Bill in Lok Sabha in December last year.
The Bill provides for simplification of procedures and is expected to spur rapid growth in the number of UG and PG seats in the country, besides enhancing the governance and quality of medical education. It also provides for distribution of functions among four autonomous boards whose members would be persons of proven ability selected through a transparent process. The Bill is pending in the Lok Sabha.