The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the National Medical Commission Bill for replacing the "den of corruption" Medical Council of India (MCI). Terming the Bill as historic, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that new National Medical Commission will end the 60-year-old 'inspector raj' in the medical education and the Government has accommodated all the concerns of the doctors and other people in the medical field.

The Bill that seeks to repeal the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 was passed by a voice vote, amid a walkout by Opposition Congress, DMK and Trinamool Congress, accusing the dilution of powers of state Governments and implementation of new 'exit exam'. Health Minister reiterated that no medical college will be allowed without consent of the State Governments.

The Bill also has a provision for making national standards in medical education uniformity by proposing that the final year MBBS exam be treated as an entrance test for PG and a screening test for students, who graduate in medicine from foreign countries. This exam, called the National Exit Test (NEXT), would ensure that the proposed National Medical Commission (NMC) moves away from a system of repeated inspections of infrastructure and focuses on outcomes rather than processes, Vardhan said.

Opposition members objected to provisions like exit exam and replacing elected members with nominated members in the proposed commission. They alleged that the legislation was against the spirit of federalism. It is like "throwing the baby with the bathwater... The cure seems to be worst than the disease," Congress' Manish Tewari said during the debate and claimed the Bill would end up legalising capitation fee.

However, Vardhan allayed the fears saying the legislation is "anti-vested interests", will help end 'inspector raj' and increase the number of seats in medical colleges. "NMC will be lean and effective," Vardhan said in his reply. He assured the members that genuine concerns of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which has been protesting against the Bill, have been addressed.

Vardhan termed the legislation as "pro-poor" saying it would bring not only government seats but also 50 per cent of all private seats within the reach of meritorious students belonging to economically weaker sections. The bill was brought in the wake of allegations of corruption against the 63-year-old MCI.

"Once the NMC Bill is passed by both houses of Parliament, exit examination will be implemented in the next three years," the Minister said. "When history will be written... It (bill) will go down as one of the biggest reforms," he noted.

Participating in the discussion, Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the legislation was against federalism as the body has no representation from the state. Supporting the bill, BJP member Mahesh Sharma, who is also a doctor, said the 1956 India Medical Council Act has completely failed to fulfill aspirations of the people. In the last three years, Sharma said as many as 121 medical colleges were set up in the country of which 60 were in government sector. DMK leader A Raja termed the bill as "anti-poor, anti- social justice, undemocratic and anti-federalism".