IMA rejects suggestions for NMC bill
IMA is endorsing the (medical students’) strike on April 2. We can’t see our future doctors being troubled like that. Doctors may not stop working but will provide all logistical support RAVI WANKHEDKAR, IMA president
NEW DELHI: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has rejected the recommendations made by the parliamentary standing committee for health for the draft National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, 2017, during a mahapanchayat held in New Delhi on Sunday.
The association, a national body with over three lakh private medical practitioners as its members, will also support the medical students’ strike against the draft NMC Bill, which is scheduled for April 2, IMA president Dr Ravi Wankhedkar said.
The parliamentary committee had submitted its report last week and suggested changes to the bill, after health minister JP Nadda referred the matter to the committee on January 2.
“The recommendations are cosmetic in nature and will affect medical students more than anyone else because of allowing licentiate (exit) examination for medical students,” he said.
The health ministry is currently in the process of drafting a Cabinet note, keeping in mind the panel’s recommendations.
IMA office bearers said the bill, in its current form, will not only “cripple” the democratic functioning of the medical profession by making it completely answerable to the bureaucracy, but also adversely affect medical students.
“The student representatives, who participated in the mahapanchayat, decided to go on strike on April 2, and the IMA is endorsing the strike. We can’t see our future doctors being troubled like that. Doctors may not stop working that day but will provide all logistical support to ensure their strike is a success,” he said.
One of the major contentions that medical students have is the parliamentary panel’s recommendation to integrate national licentiate examination, which provides license to MBBS students to practice medicine, with final-year undergraduate exam.
The IMA is also against the bill seeking to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI), the apex body for medical education, with National Medical Council.
The federal character of the MCI is not found in the NMC, the association has argued. All the state governments have representation in the MCI. Only five states in rotation will have representation in the NMC and, as a result, it will take two decades for a state to re-enter the NMC.
“They have recommended to make it nine but even that is inadequate state representation. It looks like the Bill is anti-allopathy and if they want to promote other streams over allopathy than we might as well withdraw on our own and make it allopathy-mukt Bharat,” said Dr Vinay Aggarwal, member, IMA.
The IMA had called for a daylong strike on January 1 against the bill, but called it off midway after it was referred to the parliamentary standing committee.