Health ministry proposes amendments in NMC Act; new board to conduct NExT exam

The Union health ministry has proposed merging the existing National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBES) as an autonomous board under the National Medical Commission, which will also be in charge of conducting the NExT exam. The ministry has also proposed amendments to the existing NMC Act as part of which all cases by medical colleges in matters related to the National Medical Commission (NMC) should be jurisdiction of the high court of Delhi instead of the current practice of filing pleas in high courts in different states.

"It has been decided to make amendments in the NMC Act 2019 to incorporate  provisions for setting up a fifth autonomous board, namely Board of Examinations in the Medical Sciences under the NMC," a public notice on the draft National Medical Commission (Amendment) Bill 2022 issued on December 29 said.   Since NBES is also giving degrees under the Diplomate of National Board (DNB) and NMC under the Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Master's in Surgery (MS), it was felt that keeping them under one regulatory control will lead to better and standardised  medical education in PG courses, an official said.

Besides, the draft bill also proposees incorporating provision in the parent Act that jurisdiction in the cases filed by medical colleges/institutions in matter related to NMC shall be Delhi High Court only.

It also proposes providing provision for parents, their relatives/complainants to prefer an appeal in the Ethics and Medical Registration Board/National Medical Commission against the decision of the State Medical Council in complaints related to medical negligence or professional misconduct.

So far patients/their relatives or complainants, in such cases, have been asked to approach the court if they were dissatisfied with the verdict of the state medical commission.  The NMC (Amendment) Bill, 2022 has been put out in public domain to solicit comments/suggestions within 30 days from the date of issue of this notice.