Why government medical body isn’t in good health

The Government’s decision to establish a National Medical Commission (NMC) to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) has come at the most appropriate juncture for the ailing medical education and health sector. 

It comes at the end of long process of deliberation both inside and outside Parliament as well as courts in the past few years. 

MCI has the dubious distinction of being the only regulatory body to have been accused of being a ‘den of corruption’ by a High Court, a ‘big source of corruption’ by a health minister and ‘corruption-ridden’ by a parliamentary panel. 

All attempts to reform MCI had failed in the past 20 years, so the only way to redeem medical regulation is to throw MCI into the dustbin and create a new regulatory infrastructure. 

The creation of NMC, first proposed by the parliamentary committee on health in March 2016, is going to be the first step. 

It is very critical for every country to have an upright, transparent and pro-people medical regulatory authority, as it has a direct bearing on the well-being of its citizens. 

MCI – along with state medical councils – is supposed to be the legal custodian of medical education (licencing of medical colleges and curriculum), medical ethics, licencing of doctors, medical negligence and safeguarding of patient rights.

In each of these tasks, not only has the MCI failed miserably but has subverted the very processes with corruption under the guise of self-regulation.

The March 2016 report of the parliamentary committee was unprecedented as it contained one full chapter titled ‘Corruption in MCI,’ and recorded the unqualified admission by the MCI president that there was ‘corruption in sanctioning of medical colleges or increasing or decreasing medical seats.’ 

The CBI should have taken note of this testimony and initiated investigation into it right away. Even now, it’s not too late. 

All allegations should be investigated thoroughly and criminal proceedings initiated.

It’s necessary to dismantle the infrastructure of corruption in MCI completely. 

A fully-fledged commission should be established to investigate the misdeeds of the MCI and state medical councils in the past 20 years.

While setting up NMC and other bodies under it, all measures should be taken to ensure that only honest persons — with no conflict of interest — are appointed in a transparent manner. 

The NMC should not be the sole preserve of the medical community. It must include eminent people from different walks of life. The number of non-doctors in the medical regulator should be substantial. 

In the British Medical Council, non-doctors are in majority and can even become its chairman.

India can no longer afford to have a closed user group like MCI to govern medical education and ethics, in the name of self-regulation. It is important to ensure that NMC does not become another MCI 10 years down the line.