The Indian Medical Association (IMA), which has strongly been opposing the draft National Medical Commission bill that seeks to replace the Medical Council of India with a new body, has urged parliamentarians to protect the interests of the medical profession.
 

According to the IMA's national president K K Aggarwal, the draft NMC bill which recently was approved by the Cabinet, would "cripple" the medical profession by making it completely answerable to the bureaucracy and non-medical administrators."The medical profession is currently going through a very tough time. It is time that parliamentarians take note of this crisis and act accordingly," he said.He said the formation of the NMC would add to the woes of medical sector as it would be a "regulator appointed by the administrators, under their direct control".

Last week, the IMA had appealed to the prime minister to revise the draft bill in the larger interest of the medical profession and correct the anomalies.The draft bill provides for the constitution of four autonomous boards entrusted with conducting undergraduate and postgraduate education, assessment and accreditation of medical institutions and registration of practitioners under the NMC.It abolishes the Medical Council of India (MCI) and "possibly" Section 15 of the IMC Act, which says that the basic qualification to practise modern medicine is MBBS, he claimed."It takes away the voting right of every doctor in India to elect their medical council. The Medical Council of India is a representative body of the medical profession in India.

"Any registered medical practitioner in the country can contest the election and every qualified doctor can vote.Abolishing a democratic institution and replacing it by a body in which majority is nominated by the government is certainly a retrograde step," Agarwal earlier had said.Also, it inducts non-medical people into the highest body of medical governance changing its perspective and character forever.