MCI dissolved, six-member panel to supervise the council
POSTED May 17, 2010 - 13:12 | POSTED BY Neha Jindal
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on May 17, 2010 - 13:44
The 76-year old council was dissolved on corruption charges and a six-member board is all set to take its place to look after the functioning of the 30-member executive council.
The Times of India cited Union health secretary K. Sujatha Rao as saying, “This committee will not have an advisory role but will actively run the MCI including issuing licences and permissions, conducting inspections and regulating medical education, for a maximum of one year.”
“It will also suggest ways to reform MCI which will help in preparing the bill which we plan to introduce in the monsoon session of Parliament,” added Rao.
Six-member panel to replace MCI
The Centre has announced a six-member committee including the chairperson to function in place of the MCI.
The Board of Governors will be headed by Dr. S.K. Sarin, Department of Gastroenterology, G.B. Pant Hospital.
Other members in the committee are: Dr. Devi Shetty, Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore; Dr. Gautam Sen, former Dean, J.J. Hospital Mumbai; Dr. Sita Nayik, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Medical Institute, Lucknow; Dr. Ranjit Roy Chowdhury, clinical pharmacologist and Emeritus Scientist, National Institute of Immunology and Dr. S.M. Salhan, Dean, Sikkim-Manipal University.
Other amendments
The government also amended Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and inserted Article 3 (a) through the law that will empower it to intervene in the matters of ‘national policy’.
It was also known that the ordinance will be in effect for a year. However, following non-suspension of MCI, the original executive body will come into function.
Nevertheless, the government is all set to dissolve the tainted body, which will pass the supervision of medical education in the hands of National Commission for Higher Education and Research, as recommended by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Argument against dissolution
Dr. Dharam Prakash, Secretary, Indian Medical Association (IMA) was quoted in The Indian Express as saying, “The MCI is an autonomous body which carries out the task of maintaining standards of medical education imparted in the country. To dissolve it and hand over the power to a few doctors is highly questionable.”
“The credibility issue could have been addressed by replacing the top brass but to dissolve the body is extreme,” added Prakash.
The IMA also stated that dissolving the body could have adverse effects on the quality of medical education in the country.
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