President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday signed an Ordinance to set up a committee to run the scam-tainted Medical Council of India (MCI) till a Bill to replace the body with a new commission is passed by Parliament.
Briefing reporters, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “In a Cabinet meeting today, a proposal was made to the President, which he has signed... its purpose is to replace the existing body and allow it to be run by a committee of eminent persons.”
A Bill to replace the MCI with a National Medical Commission has already been presented in Parliament.
Pending Parliament’s approval to the Bill, the Government has chosen to go for the Ordinance since the term of the existing committee running the MCI is ending in November, the Finance Minister explained.
A Parliamentary Standing Committee has also made its recommendations, but due to time factor the Bill “has gone into an area of uncertainty”, Jaitley said.
He said since the term of the elected body of the MCI is ending shortly, a need was felt to run it by a committee of eminent persons to run its affairs.
The NMC Bill, pending in Parliament, proposes setting up four autonomous boards to oversee undergraduate and post-graduate courses, assess and accredit medical institutes and register practitioners under the National Medical Commission.
It also proposes a common entrance exam and licentiate exams that all medical graduates will have to clear for practicing licences.
The Board of Governors include Niti Aayog member V K Paul, AIIMS, Delhi director Randeep Guleria, PGIMER, Chandigarh director Jagat Ram, NIMHANS Bangalore director B N Gangadhar and Nikhil Tandon, professor, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at AIIMS here.
Director general health services S Venkatesh and director general ICMR Balram Bhargava will be the ex-officio members.