National Medical Commission to come into effect from today, Check details here

According to an official gazette notification released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with the central government dissolving the Indian Medical Council Act 1956, the National Medical Commission will be brought into effect from today onwards. The National Medical Commission Bill was passed by both houses of Parliament last year after facing resistance from doctors. 

The notification stated that pursuing the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 60 of the National Medical Commission Act 2019, the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 stands repealed with effect from September 25, 2020. The notification further stated that the Board of governors appointed by the centre under section 3A of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 in the suppression of the Medical Council of India constituted under subsection (1) of section 3 of the Act shall stand dissolved. 

Four autonomous boards

Four autonomous boards have been introduced by the Centre under the NMC Act which includes the undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMED), the Medical Assessment and Rating Board and the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB).

Members of the NMC

According to the official notification released, Dr Suresh Chandra Sharma retired HoD, ENT, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi has been appointed as the Chairman of the NMC for a period of three years. The NMC will also consist of 10 ex-officio members and 22 part-time members appointed by the Central Government. 

The Medical Council came across a lot of corruption complaints and in order to ensure transparency, the NMC members will have to declare their assets at the time of joining and demitting the office. The members are also not allowed to accept any employment in any capacity in a private medical institution for a period of two years. 

The centre has also stated that the NMC is progressive legislation which aims to reduce the burden on students to ensure transparency in medical education by bringing down the costs. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan termed the NMC as a huge and visionary reform aimed to provide wider access to people for quality healthcare.

He earlier added that a provision has been made in the NMC Act to register some community health providers who shall be modern medical professionals and will not be dealing with any alternative system of medicine. He further stated that the health provisional will have limited powers to provide primary and preventive health care at the mid-level.

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