As medical education hit by scams, planned reforms remain in backburner

NEW DELHI: The recent CBI cases against a retired judge and two IAS officers for alleged irregularities in admission of medical students, has underscored the need for a revamp in the sector. Yet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious plan to reform the medical education system and per se the profession itself, continues to drag.

The government has failed to approve the legislation to set up a National Medical Commission (NMC) to be introduced in Parliament as suggested by a high-powered panel set up by the prime minister’s office (PMO) to suggest major changes in medical education, including restructuring of “tainted” MCI in March 2016.

Even after getting clearance from the government, the proposed NMC bill has to pass Parliament’s scrutiny which again is a time taking process.

The panel, which was headed by then Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya, submitted its first draft report in around four months suggesting radical measures such as scrapping of MCI and setting up of 20-member NMC whose members would be selected on merit by a high powered search-cum-selection panel and would not be elected, as in the past, by MCI.

The proposed NMC bill also proposes an exit exam which all MBBS graduates will have to clear to get a licence to practise. The exit exam may also serve as National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for aspiring candidates for post-graduate studies.

A senior official said the proposed bill was finalised by a group of ministers (GoM) headed by Arun Jaitley on June 2017, but there is no movement after that.

The ministerial panel suggested increasing the number of members and introducing a part election process. It was proposed that nine members were to be elected out of the 29-member commission, said a source.

Another significant change in the new Bill was provision to establish an appellate authority headed by a retired judge to hear appeals against NMC orders. Earlier, the bill suggested that any person or body or an organisation, aggrieved by an order made by the commission may prefer an appeal to the central government (health ministry).

The delay is surprising as the high-powered panel which had finalised the bill also had additional principal secretary in PMO P K Mishra, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and health secretary as its members.

“It seems vested interests are stalling the move initiated by PM himself. The bill is being delayed on the ground of small technicalities,” said a senior official.