National Medical Commission: Country’s apex regulator of medical education comes into existence

On September 25, 2020, the National Medical Commission began its operation. The Commission has replaced Medical Council of India. It is now the apex regulator of medical education and profession.

Highlights

The MCI was replaced with the NMC based on the recommendation made by NITI Aayog. Earlier, the planning commission had also made similar recommendations.

About the National Medical Commission

The commission is made of 33 members. It is headed by a chairperson who is a medical professional. Also, the commission will have 10 ex-officio members and 22 part time members. The main functions of the commission are as follows

• Laying down policies to regulate medical professionals and medical institution
• Assessing requirements of healthcare infrastructure and human resources
• Ensuring if the State Medical Councils comply to rules and regulations
• Framing guidelines to determine fee structure of private medical institutions.

Key Features

• Four Autonomous boards will operate under the commission. They are as follows
  • Undergraduate Medical Education Board
  • Medical Assessment and Rating Board
  • Postgraduate Medical Education Board
  • Ethical and Medical Registration Board
• Under the NMC, the medical colleges will have to seek permission only once for establishment and recognition. There will be no necessity of renewal.
• The fines of violations were increased from 1.5 times to 10 times the total annual fee charged.

Medical Council of India

It was established in 1934. Several concerns were raised on the statutory body. They were as follows

• Poor maintenance of standards in medical education, inspections, curriculum guidelines, courses, etc
• Poor recognition of medical qualification
• The system of registration of doctors and maintenance of All India Medical Register carried several issues

Legislation

The National Medical Commission was set up under National Medical Commission act. The act made the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) compulsory to get admitted to under graduate and post graduate medical institutions.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2020