The Delhi Medical Council (DMC) has asked Medical Council of India (MCI) to refrain from giving direct registrations to doctors and has requested the national body to redirect such applicants to the state council.

In a written communication directed to MCI with copies to the director of Medical Education and concerned officials in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the DMC has cited instances of such registrations and pointed out that these doctors would thus be outside the disciplinary control of the state council.

“Thus in case of any complaint against such a doctor, neither the MCI nor the Delhi Medical Council would be able to take suitable action,” an official source explained. The MCI is not empowered to take disciplinary action against individual doctors.

When contacted on telephone by Pharmabiz.com yesterday, MCI principal secretary Dr Meena Sachdeva said the MCI was giving the registrations in accordance with a specific order from the Central Health Ministry. “We are not doing it on our own,” she added.

Taking note of section 15(2) of the MCI Act, which states that “no person other than a medical practitioner enrolled on a state medical register shall practice medicine in any state”, the council argues that by giving direct registrations the MCI is getting into the domain of the state medical councils.

DMC sources explained that the MCI role is just to compile the data from the state medical council registers and put it in the Indian Medical Register (IMR). “If some applicant feels that he needs his name to be entered in IMR much before it appears in normal course, he can approach MCI. The apex council can enroll the name in the register, provided the person is already registered with a state council”, sources said.

Interestingly, the debate over the “registration rights” is under judicial scrutiny and a Supreme Court hearing in this regard is due now. The Apex Court, in one of the interim directives had asked MCI to give proper explanation on how and why it gives direct registration. It is also looking into the reasons behind the absence of State Medical Councils in all the states of the country.

DMC sources informed that they are yet to get any response from the council on their written communication dated December 16, 2002.

It should be recalled that a recent meeting of representatives from 12 medical councils across the country had asked for more autonomy for the state councils with regard to registration. They had felt that exclusive state level registrations can bring about more regulations within the profession.