The Central government is trying hard to detach corruption from all sections of our society including health sector, the statutory body of which i.e. Medical Council of India (MCI) had faced corruption charges and was dissolved by the Government of India in 2018 with the Board of Governors (BoG)-MCI chaired by Dr Vinod Kumar Paul, member (health), Niti (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog. This Board of Governors was appointed under section 3A of the Indian Medical Council (IMC) Act, 1956 (102 of 1956) in supersession of the MCI constituted under sub-section (1) of section 3 of IMC ACT.
- Now in a further move, on September 25, 2020, BoG-MCI dissolved by Centre and was replaced by National Medical Commission (NMC) as India’s top regulator of medical education. The notification in this regard was issued by
- NMC is constituted pursuance of the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 4 read with subsection (1) of section 5 and sub-section (1) of section 8 of the NMC Act, 2019 (30 of 2019).
- Along with the above, in pursuance of the provisions of sub-section (1) of the section 60 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 (30 of 2019), nearly 64-year-old IMC Act, 1956 (102 of 1956) has repealed w.e.f. September 25, 2020.
About National Medical Commission Act, 2019:
The NMC Act came into existence on August 8, 2019. After that, the Central Government in exercising the powers conferred by sub-section (3) of the section 1 of the NMC Act, 2019 (30 of 2019), the provisions of sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 56 and 57 of the NMC Act were brought into force with effect from September 2 2019
- Now, again, in exercising the powers conferred by sub-section (3) of the section 1 of NMC Act, the remaining provisions of the NMC Act, 2019 (30 of 2019) came into force w.e.f the September, 25 2020.
- Read National Medical Commission Bill 2019, passed by Rajya Sabha.
Composition of NMC, Dr Suresh Chandra Sharma appointed as its 1st chairman
The NMC comprises 25 members.
Chairman: Dr Suresh Chandra Sharma, former head of the ear nose throat (ENT) department at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi has been appointed as the first chairman of NMC for a period of three years under sub-section (2) of section 4 of NMC Act w.e.f. September 25, 2020. Read Suresh Chandra Sharma appointed as 1st Chairman of NMC
Secretary: Rakesh Kumar Vats, Secretary General in the Board of Governors of the MCI, named as the Secretary of the Secretariat for the NMC.
Key Changes:
–The common final year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) examination will now be known as the National Exit Test (NEXT).
–NEXT will act as licentiate examination to practice medicine, the criteria for admission to post -graduate (PG) medical courses, and also for screening of foreign medical graduates.
Four Autonomous Boards of NMC:
NMC consists of the following four Autonomous Boards constituted under sub-section (1) of section 16 read with section 18 of NMC ACT namely:-
Under-Graduate Medical Education Board: President and two whole time Members
- President– Dr. Aruna V. Vanikar Professor and Head, Department of Pathology, G R Doshi and K.M. Mehta Institute of Kidney disease and Research Centre, Ahmedabad
Post-Graduate Medical Education Board: President and two whole time Members & two part time members.
- President– Dr. M.K. Ramesh, Professor and Head, Department of Surgery, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute.
Medical Assessment and Rating Board: President and one whole time Member & two part time members
- President– Dr. Achal Gulati,Director Principal, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College, Delhi
Ethics and Medical Registration Board: President and one whole time Member & two part time members.
- President– Dr. B N Gangadhar ,the Director of NIMHANS, Bengaluru.
The President and whole-time members of each Autonomous Boards are appointed for a term of four years and the part-time Members will hold office for a term of two years.
Recent Related News:
i.On July 24, 2020, on the request of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Government of India (GoI) has extended medical assistance in the form of anti-tuberculosis medicines worth about US$ 1 million to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
ii.On July 20, 2020, the Government of India (GoI) signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health of Maldives for the establishment of an ‘Emergency Medical Services Unit’ at Baa Atoll Dharavandhoo Hospital in Male, Maldives.
About Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW):
Union Minister– Harsh Vardhan
Minister of State (MoS)– Ashwini Kumar Choubey
