Just as the government prepares to bring an end to the Medical Council of India with the National Medical Commission – the Bill overhauling the regulatory structure of medical education is likely to be tabled in Parliament this week – the Indian Medical Association has decided to honour former MCI chief Ketan Desai by naming its annual lecture of the outgoing president as the 1st IMA Dr Ketan Desai Medical Statesman of the Highest Order Oration.
In 2010 CBI had allegedly caught Desai accepting bribe from a private medical college. In 2016 he became president of the World medical Association but pictures of Desai in CBI custody have been emblematic of corruption in the medical education regulatory structure for years now. IMA which claims to be the “only representative, national voluntary organization of Doctors of Modern Scientific System of Medicine” has been vociferous against the NMC bill raising various objections including that the provision for regulation of fees of 40% medical seats will “have political implications and can be a root cause of future corruptions.” The fact that IMA has chosen to honour Desai in the backdrop of the NMC Bill is interesting, if nothing, for its timing.
IMA in a statement on Tuesday said: “Marking the culmination of his tenure as the 88thNational President of IMA, Padma Shri Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal, will deliver the 1st IMA Dr Ketan Desai Medical Statesman of the Highest Order Oration during the Central Council Meeting in Mumbai on Dec 27-28, 2017.” Sources in the association say the decision to name the oration after Dr Desai is to “show appreciation” for him just as his term as the president of the World Medical Association comes to an end.
Once NMC Bill is passed, MCI’s inspector raj which many say is the root of all corruption in medical education will come to an end. Permissions will no longer be required for increase of seats in a medical college, neither would the college need to renew its licence every year. It will only be required to take permission once at the time of establishment and recognition. After that the system will assume it is following all norms till proved otherwise by inspections by the Medical Assessment and Rating Board. When that happens, the college could be fined upto ten times its annual tuition fee depending on the gravity of the violation. All passouts though will have to take an exit examination like the one foreign medical graduates currently take for the licence to practice in the country.
