Centre’s National Medical Commission Bill ‘undemocratic’, ‘marginalises’ states: IMA

The largest body of private doctors in India, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), says that the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill aims to dilute the democratic character of medical education in India, as it would consolidate the decision-making power in the hands of central government.

“The proposed National Medical Commission would take away the power from the states. There will just be three posts for representatives from the states, compared to 30 under the existing system, one for each state. If the proposed bill becomes a law, every state will get a representation on the board every ten years,” Dr Ved Prakash Mishra, the head of the medical education committee at IMA, told NH.

“The states will be marginalised,” Dr Mishra warned.

Dr Mishra noted that the proposed NMC would be “full of people nominated by the government.”

“Even the four proposed autonomous boards will be helmed by people nominated by the government. The government will have the power to remove these persons should they not the government’s directive. There will no autonomy whatsoever,” he added.

The National Medical Commission Bill was introduced by Union Health Minister JP Nadda in the Parliament on Dec 29 last year. Among its major provisions, the bill calls for the establishment of a 25-member National Medical Council, whose head will be appointed by a search committee constituted by the government. A more controversial clause of the proposed law is to legalise practitioners of homoeopathy and Ayurveda as modern doctors, once they complete a six-month bridge course.

The government’s logic behind the move is that it would allow addressing the shortage of doctors in rural areas.

“How can someone who has completed a six-month bridge course be treated on par with an MBBS?” Dr Mishra asks.

He says that the government has failed to address the structural reasons keeping doctors from travelling to rural parts of the country. “We have been urging the government to improve healthcare infrastructure in rural areas. When there are modern medical amenities in villages, doctors will come rushing to work there,” Dr Mishra said.

However, the opinion in the medical fraternity on the bridge course seems to be divided.

Dr Puneet Gupta, a senior oncologist at Delhi’s Metro Hospital, says that the bridging course was a step in the right direction in addressing the shortage of doctors in villages.

“It is not a bad idea but the implementation has to be need-based. The ruling should be strictly implemented wherever there is an unmet need for doctors. The focus must be on posting doctors with bridge courses in rural areas, where there is a shortage of healthcare facilities,” Dr Gupta said.

He, however, added that the government must make sure that doctors with bridge courses could practise only in rural areas, and not in the cities.

A common examination counterproductive

Dr Mishra warned that the proposed National Licentiate Examination (NLE), a mandatory test for medical graduates that would allow them to practise medicine in India, would worsen the healthcare crisis in the country.

“What would happen to medical graduates who are not able to clear the medical examination? On one hand, they talk about manpower crunch? How would they utilise the medical students who have flunked their examination?” he asked.

More than 25,000 doctors from across India on Sunday held a ‘mahapanchayat’ at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Delhi and opposed the parliament panel’s recommendations and the bill. The IMA has threatened an ‘indefinite’ countrywide strike of doctors and medical students from April 2 if the provisions of the bill aren’t repealed.