Question : CORRUPTION IN INDIAN MEDICAL SYSTEM

(a) whether the Government has taken note of rampant corruption prevalent in medical education and healthcare delivery system across the country as reported in an article published recently in a medical journal abroad;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;

(c) whether the Government has sought any clarification from the Medical Council of India (MCI) on the issue and if so, the details thereof along with the response of MCI thereto;

(d) whether the Government proposes to put in place an effective monitoring mechanism to tackle corruption in Indian medical system; and

(e) if so, the details thereof along with the other measures taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to address the issue?

THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

(a) to (c): The Government is not aware of the contents of article published in a medical journal abroad. However, Government is committed to address the issue of corruption in medical education and healthcare delivery system across the country.

(d) & (e): In order to put in place an effective monitoring mechanism to tackle corruption in medical education and to maintain the quality of regulatory framework in medical education, the Central Government, in the year 2010, amended the Indian Medical Council (IMC) Act, 1956 through the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Act, 2010 and superseded the Medical Council of India (MCI), for one year, with constitution of Board of Governors (BoG) to perform the function of the Council during the interregnum.
Subsequently, the term of the BoG was extended to one year at a time by amending the Act in 2011 and 2012. The Ministry again extended the term of BoG for a period of 180-days i.e. upto 10th November, 2013 by way of IMC (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 on 21st May, 2013.
The IMC (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 promulgated on 21st May. 2013 ceased to operate on 16th September, 2013. Hence, the IMC (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2013 was promulgated on 28th September, 2013 to validate the work already done by the BoG in the absence of MCI as per provisions of the earlier Ordinance.
Finally, the MCI has been reconstituted on 6th November, 2013 as per provision contained in the IMC (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2013.
Further, monitoring mechanism to monitor admission in undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses exists in the “Medical Council of India (Criteria for Identification of students admitted in excess of admission capacity of medical colleges) Regulations, 1997” and to regulate the medical practice by medical professionals, the MCI, with prior approval of the Central Government, notified the “Indian Medical Council (Professional conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002”.