The Union Health Ministry has finalised a draft bill for the establishment of a National Council for Human Resource in Health (NCHRH) as an overarching regulatory body for health and allied sectors. The draft is put up on the Health Ministry's website for public discussion before initiating further steps in this regard.

Once a final nod is given for the new body, it will replace the existing regulatory bodies like Medical Council of India, Pharmacy Council, Nursing Council and Dental Council of India. NCHRH will be the single regulatory body at the national level as per the draft bill put up by the Task Force set up by the government on June 19, this year.

The new initiative is to reform the current regulatory framework and enhance the supply of skilled personnel to the healthcare sector in the country. The Council will prescribe standards with a view to have proper planning and co-coordinated development of medical and allied health education throughout the country and maintain national live electronic register of medical and allied health professionals.

With the formation of NCHRH, many of the existing Councils' members think that this will obliterate the democratic set up of the regulatory bodies prevailing now in the country. Dr B.Suresh, president of Pharmacy Council of India said that though it has a long way to go, it will have a bureaucratic structure rather than the existing democratic and transparent form. He said for the establishment of the overarching body, the Union government has to repeal all the health and allied regulatory councils.

According to the draft bill, the Council will consist of a whole time Chairperson and not more than four whole time members who will be appointed by the Central Government. The head office of the Council will be in the national capital. The period of the Chairperson and other Members is three years.

The administration of the Council will consist of a Secretariat headed by a Secretary-General who will be appointed by the Council for a fixed term of three years. Under this secretariat, seven departments, each for separate categories like Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Dentistry, Rehabilitation & Physiotherapy, Public Health & Hospital Management and Allied Health Sciences, will be established and headed by a director for regulatory purposes.

In every state, there will be separate bodies constituted by the Council for each administrative department which will be known as Registration and Ethics Board with name of the state in front and the department's name in the end. These bodies will replace the existing State Councils. These boards have to maintain a live electronic register of professionals in the state of the respective Department to be known as 'State Register of (name of the Department) and which will be linked to the National Register of Human Resources in Health maintained by the Council.

Each Board will comprise of a president, a vice-president and not less than ten members out of which three will be women candidates. There will be a nominee of the state government also.