People suffered inconvenience as outpatient and elective facilities in private hospitals of the State were closed for 12 hours in protest on Tuesday. This agitation of Indian Medical Association (IMA) from national to district level was observed in various districts of the State against the proposed Natinonal Medical Commission Bill- 2017 which is to be tabled in this winter session. The IMA Uttarakhand secretary Dr DD Chaudhary said that this bill is anti poor and pro- rich and does not suit the medical structure of the country. This bill is pro private managements and after imposition of this bill the Government shall have control over only 40 per cent seats in private medical colleges. Furthermore, the Government shall have no control over the constant improvement of medical facilities in private medical colleges because this bill allows private players to open their own medical colleges by own will and wish without any letter of intent (loI) from NMC.
These medical colleges shall also have right to have as many seats as they want in under-graduate and post-graduate courses.
This will further deterioriate the standards of medical education in this country. The structure of NMC only provides representation of five states at one point of time.
The rest 24 states shall be unrepresented at that point of time. This bill promotes practice of Cross Pathy between Ayush and Modern Medicine which has been restricted by several High Courts of this country and even the Supreme Court.
The practice of cross pathy shall cause decline in health care standards. The control of NMC will be in the hands of non technical people who have no idea about medical practice and education.
This again will erode the already declining standards of medical practice and education.
The IMA office bearers further opined that the NMC promotes low quality and costly medical education to people who are not fit to get qualified as doctors and serve the society.
This shall increase the cost of medical services to the poor in a nation like India.