A Parliamentary Standing Committee that looked into the contentious National Medical Commission (NMC) has recommended considerable changes in the structure and composition of the Commission to increase representation of medical fraternity, States and Union Territories.  

The panel headed by Prof Ram Gopal Yadav tabled its 136-page report in Parliament on March 20th after deliberating with academicians, medical education experts and professionals representing modern and indigenous systems of medicine.

The NMC Bill 2017, which seeks to replace the existing apex medical education regulator, the Medical Council of India, with a new body, was moved by the government in Parliament in December last year. Following opposition from the medical fraternity over different provisions of the proposed legislation, the Bill was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The NMC, as per the current proposal, is a 25-member body comprising chairperson, member-secretary, 12 ex-officio members and 11 part-time members. Of the part-time members, three are from non-medical background and only five are members elected from registered medical practitioners.

During deliberations, many experts have opined that medical fraternity and universities hardly have any representation in the Commission. Though health and medical education is under the Concurrent List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, all the members of the NMC will be nominated by the Central government and the States will have effectively no say over the appointment and functioning of it.

Representatives of the medical fraternity made a pitch for increasing the representation of States and Union Territories from 3 to 10 and elected representatives from 5 to 10 to have proper presence of both States and medical professionals. They wanted to reduce the number of ex-officio members to 7 as these members have limited understanding of working of medical colleges.

The government countered the argument saying that provision for election of five members was included even though the department-related standing committee had recommended for a purely selected body.

However, the House committee, in its final report has taken into consideration the views of the medical fraternity. “The uneven composition of the Commission wherein 80 per cent of its members are nominated as out of 25 members only 5 will be elected members reflects lack of proper representation of elected medical professionals in the composition of the Commission,” it stated in the report.

“The committee recommends that the total strength of the Commission be increased from 25 members to 29 members. Out of these 29 members, besides chairperson, 6 members should be ex-officio members, 9 should be elected by registered medical practitioners from among themselves, 10 members should be from among the nominees of the States and Union Territories besides three part-time members appointed from among persons having special knowledge and professional experience,” the report further added.

It also mooted an amendment to the requisite qualifications of the chairperson of the NMC. “The chairperson shall be a medical professional of outstanding ability, proven administrative capacity and integrity, possessing a recognised postgraduate degree in any discipline of medical sciences and having experience of not less than twenty years in the field of medical sciences, out of which at least ten years shall be as a leader in the area of medical education.”

The panel also objected to making a bridge course, which would help Ayush practitioners prescribe modern medicine, mandatory and wanted the state governments to take constructive measures to increase the number of healthcare professionals practising in rural areas. The bridge course proposal had sparked widespread protests by modern medicine practitioners across the country last year.

While the Bill suggests government regulation of fee in 40 per cent seats in private medical colleges, the Committee seeks to increase it to 50 per cent. The college is allowed to decide fee structure for the remaining seats.