MCI on way out, cabinet clears National Medical Commission Bill

Medical Council of India is on its deathbed.

The Union cabinet has cleared a Bill for replacing MCI as the apex medical regulator. Once 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. Which means that a college of 100 students charging Rs 1 lakh per student could be fined anything between Rs 50 lakh to Rs 10 crore.

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.

The bill also paves the way for a common exit examination, making medical education the only field of higher education with a common entrance test, common counselling and common exit examination. “The exit examination will serve as an automatic benchmark for a college. If passouts do not fare well in the examination then it will automatically have to pull up its socks or students will not come. That will also have a calming effect on fees. A college whose students do not perform well would not be able to hike fees either because then it would lose out students even further,” said a source. The Bill is expected to be tabled in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament.

Medical Council of India

1. Primarily elected with state/central nominees
2. Application of Centre, permission given on MCI recommendation
3. Permission reqd for establishment, renewal, recognition, increase of seats.
4. Separate permission reqd for PG
5. Penalty for not meeting requirements
6. No power to prescribe fees

National Medical Commission

1. Members are mostly elected, some non medical
2. Application and permission by Medical Assessment and Rating Board
3. Permission only for establishment and recognition. No annual renewal, automatic increase of seats.
4. College can start PG course on its own
5. Monetary penalty upto ten times the annual tuition fee
6. NMC guidelines for fees for upto 40% seats

The 25 member commission will mostly comprise members selected by a search committee headed by the cabinet secretary. Among ex-officio members of the NMC will be director of AIIMS, New Delhi, Director General of Health Services and nominees of PGI Chandigarh, JIPMER Puducherry, TMCH, Mumbai and NEIGRIHMS, Shillong. The 64 member medical advisory council will have one member from each state and UT (nominated by MHA), chairman UGC, director NAAC etc. There will be four boards under the NMC for undergraduate medical education, postgraduate medical education, ratings and assessment and ethics and medical registration board.

Fees for upto 40% seats in all private colleges and deemed universities will be fixed on the basis of guidelines given out by NMC. The commission will lay down policies for maintaining quality of medical education, for the regulation of medical institutions, assess requirements in healthcare including for human resources and infrastructure and exercise appellate jurisdiction with respect to the decisions of the autonomous boards.