Health ministry mulling ordinance to take over MCI management and functioning for at least a year.
In view of the allegations of corruption and malpractices in the Medical Council of India (MCI), the government has decided to take control of India’s top medical regulatory body. The health ministry is moving an ordinance to virtually take over the management and functioning of the MCI for at least an year.
What appears to be a temporary control for one year may soon turn out to be a permanent change of guards as the health ministry will bring a new legislation within a year to have better control over not only MCI but other regulatory bodies also.
“Our first and immediate concern should be to restore the credibility of MCI and to enable it to function in a fair and objective manner and also to restore the confidence of all those involved in medical education in the country,” health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had said in parliament recently.
Accordingly, Azad had sought opinion of the law ministry, which is learnt to have advised the health minister to go for an ordinance. However, this ordinance can only be one time exception and within one year the ministry has to look for a permanent solution to the recurring problem.
On Thursday, the Union cabinet gave in-principle approval for the ordinance till the time a legislation is brought. It has left to the ministry to deal with the nitty-gritties of the process. The ministry officials said a super body comprising experts will be put in place to look at the functioning of MCI for the time being. This has been done keeping in mind the admissions and new session.
In Mumbai, Azad said, an action from the government was required as there was no law by virtue of which action could have been taken against MCI. Azad said since MCI was created by an act of parliament there was no provision of suspension or even a show-cause notice to it. “So we have to take some action,” Azad said.
The government as of now has no power to dissolve the MCI which was constituted with an Act of Parliament. However, one-time exception has been made keeping in mind the seriousness of the problem. Till one year a panel of experts which include the directors of AIIMS, JIPMER, PGI and Director General of Health Services as nominated members by the government will run the show.
According to health secretary K Sujatha Rao, the government has taken a serious view of the regular complaints of graft in not
only MCI but also other regulatory bodies.
“There will certainly be a legislative response to this incident. The credibility of MCI has to be restored,” Rao said.
The government plans to introduce National Council of Human Resource for Health Bill (NCHRH), which will have stricter provisions on tenures in office. And if that takes time, an official in the health ministry said, the government may consider re-introducing The Indian Medical Council (IMC) (Amendment) Bill, 2005, in the parliament.
The NCHRH will be an overarching body which will subsume all councils under it. Thereafter, it will be the NCHRH which will recognise, derecognise, give approval, etc, for setting up of new medical, nursing, dental and other colleges. Rao claimed that a draft law will be formulated within a month.
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