MBBS students boycott classes across TN to protest NMC Bill

Medical students in other districts also staged various protests.

Published: 03rd August 2019 04:39 AM

Madras Medical College students staging a protest against NMC Bill on Friday | R Satish Babu

By Express News Service

CHENNAI/VELLORE/MADURAI: Hundreds of medical students staged a sit-in at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai, boycotting classes on Friday to protest against the Central government’s National Medical Commission Bill 2019 which makes NEXT (National Exit Test) mandatory for MBBS students to practise in the country.

Around 700 MBBS students of the Madras Medical College staged the protest from 8 am to 5 pm, also opposing the term ‘Community Health Provider’ used in the NMC Bill, which allows persons without medical background and with just six months’ training to practise modern medicine.

Dr GR Ravindranath, general secretary, Doctors’ Association for Social Equality, said, “The President should not give assent for the Bill. The Centre should drop the Bill and bring back Medical Council of India. The six-month bridge courses for anyone to practise modern medicine as proposed in the Bill will be disastrous.”

Medical students in other districts also staged various protests.
Human chain in Vellore: Students of government medical college hospital formed a ‘human chain’ on the premises of the hospital in protest against the Bill and NEXT exam. Over 300 students, belonging to first, second and pre-final years, took part in the protest at Adukkambarai in Vellore district.


In Madurai, 200 students of the Madurai Medical College, in association with the Madurai chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), formed a human chain on Panagal Road near the IMA office. The students wore black badges as a form of protest. The NMC Bill proposes to conduct a common final-year MBBS examination -- the NEXT -- for medical students to obtain licence to practice.