AIIMS doctors invite Health Minister J P Nadda for debate on medical council bill

Claiming that the National Medical Commission Bill was “anti-people”, the Resident Doctors Association of AIIMS has invited Health Minister J P Nadda for an open debate on the proposed legislation, which seeks to replace the existing medical education regulator with a new body.

The doctors of the premier All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said the bill carried several provisions that were “serious enough to distort the future of medical education in the country”.

The association claimed that the proposed legislation “puts medical education into the hands of the rich and the powerful”.

The bill, which seeks to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a National Medical Commission (NMC), has been referred to a parliamentary standing committee.

In a letter to Nadda, association president Harjit Singh Bhatti said that the doctors fraternity was “frightened” from the day the bill was introduced in Parliament.

“Issues such as nomination of majority of members of NMC by bureaucrats and politicians, full control of corporate sector to decide fees of more than 60 per cent of seats, national licentiate exam, no provision of grievances redressal for student, and bridge course...are serious enough to distort the future of medical education in this country,” Bhatti said.

The association has also sought an appointment from the minister on the matter, its president said. The proposed legislation triggered nationwide protests by the medical fraternity including the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

The IMA had also called for a 12-hour shutdown of private hospitals across the country last year in protest against the bill.

The bill also has provisions for granting permission to the doctors under Indian systems of medicine, including Ayurveda, to be allowed to practice modern medicine after clearing a bridge course.