GoM formed to review junking MCI

New Delhi: A year after the Niti Aayog proposed replacing the Medical Council of India with a new medical commission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has formed a group of ministers under finance minister Arun Jaitley to look into concerns over the draft National Medical Commission Bill, 2016.

The GoM, which will meet on March 20, will submit its report in 15 days after which it will be placed before the Cabinet.

“A GoM comprising eight ministers has been constituted by the PM which will give their suggestions on the proposed bill before it is put up in the Cabinet,” a source in the health ministry said.

The draft that calls for creating a new body with right to the government to give binding directions and different boards for handing different functions pertaining to undergraduate, postgraduation, regulations and ethics in the medical profession is in the offing and will soon replace the existing MCI.

“There will be a new body in place of MCI. The idea is to ease the business and give fair chance to everyone. There will be different layers where colleges can appeal. This will help enhance number of UG/PG seats. Things are expected to become much simpler once it comes into effect,” the source added.

The draft clearly calls for shifting “authority” to the health ministry for issuing directives in policy matters.

The Union ministry worked with Niti Aayog on MCI’s restructuring at the behest of Mr Modi, who suggested a new commission being the policy-making body for medical education comprising a chairperson, nine ex-officio members and 10 part-time members.

While it was suggested having more professionals from outside the medical fraternity, they have also opined to restrict the term of members to maximum of two years.

A parliamentary standing committee had said that MCI had become an “exclusive club” of medical doctors, either from corporate hospitals and private practice.