Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has proposed to appoint a Board of Governors (BG) for MCI instead of waiting for passage of National Medical Commission Bill in Parliament, if so, the details and reasons therefor; and
(b) the details of priorities/ responsibilities that may be entrusted to BG of MCI?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)
(a): The Medical Council of India (MCI) was established under the provisions of the Indian Medical Council (IMC) Act, 1956 to maintain minimum standards of medical education in the country. The working of MCI has been under scrutiny since long and the same was examined by various expert bodies including the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, which in its Ninety-second Report, in March, 2016 severely indicted MCI. The Committee recommended that the Government should bring a new comprehensive Bill in Parliament at the earliest so as to restructure and revamp the regulatory system of medical education and medical practice and to reform the MCI. Accordingly, the National Medical Commission Bill, 2017 was introduced in Lok Sabha in December, 2017 and the same is pending.
In the meantime, Ministry came across certain irregularities for which immediate steps were required to be taken by the Government to put an alternative mechanism in place of MCI so as to bring transparency, accountability and quality in the governance of medical education in the country. Hence, it has been decided to supersede the MCI and entrust its affairs to a Board of Governors (BoG) consisting of eminent doctors for a period of one year or until the MCI is reconstituted or some other arrangement is made, whichever is earlier.
As both the Houses of Parliament were not in session and urgent legislation was required to be made, the President promulgated the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 on 26th September, 2018.
(b): The BoG is vested with all the powers of MCI and also exercises the power to grant independently permission for establishment of new medical colleges, opening a new or higher courses of study or training, increase in admission capacity in any course of study or training after giving the person or college concerned a reasonable opportunity of being heard, which earlier was under the domain of the Central Government under section 10A of the IMC Act, 1956.
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