Question : Corruption in MCI

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken note of the various instances of entrenched corruption in the Medical Council of India (MCI) and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the proposal for amendments in the MCI Act to reform the MCI are pending;

(c) whether various attempts to reform the MCI by amending the MCI Act have been reportedly stalled and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) if so, the reasons therefor and the time by which the Government proposes to bring the legislation before the Parliament in this regard?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)
(a) to (d): 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2010, amended the Indian Medical Council (IMC) Act, 1956 through the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Act, 2010 and superseded the Medical Council of India (MCI), for one year, with constitution of Board of Governors (BoG) to perform the function of the Council. Subsequently, the term of the BoG was extended 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 Council was reconstituted on 6th November, 2013.

However, the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2013 introduced in Rajya Sabha on 19.8.2013 was subsequently referred to the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare.
The Committee in its 73rd report, presented to the Chairman Rajya Sabha on 20th November, 2013 has recommended some modifications in the Bill and desired that the Government may incorporate the modifications in the Bill replacing the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2013.

A Group of Experts (GoE) was constituted in July, 2014 to study the existing Indian Medical Coincil (IMC) Act, 1956 and to look at the proposed amendments to the Act and also to make recommendations to the Government to make the Medical Council of India modern and suited to the prevailing conditions. The GoE has submitted its final report.
No final decision has been taken in this regard.