Saturday, December 30, 2017

Bill tabled in LS to replace medical council of India

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Amid protests by opposition members, health minister J P Nadda on Friday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to replace the apex medical education regulator-—Medical Council of India (MCI) — with a new body to bring in more transparency in its functioning.

Congress members protested the introduction of the National Medical Commission Bill, demanding that it be sent to the standing committee for a thorough scrutiny. However, Nadda clarified that the committee’s suggestions have already been incorporated.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan told the opposition members that they should follow parliamentary procedures and give prior notice to air their disagreement with the bill’s introduction. The bill provides for constitution of four autonomous boards entrusted with conducting undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, assessment and accreditation of medical institutions and registration of practitioners under the national medical commission.

The bill states that the commission will have government-nominated chairman and members, and the board members will be selected by a search committee under the cabinet secretary.

There will be five elected and 12 ex-officio members in the panel. It also proposes a common entrance exam and licentiate exams which all medical graduates will have to clear to get practising licence. No permission would be needed to add new seats or start post-graduate courses, it says.

Sources said the bill is aimed at bringing reforms in medical education which has been under scrutiny for corruption and unethical practices.

The MCI has been in the news in the recent past for all the wrong reasons including allegations of corruption in allotment of medical seats in private colleges.

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