The health ministry has decided to speed up its plans to form a National Council for Human Resources in Health (NCHRH) to take away the powers of statutory bodies like Medical Council of India (MCI) to recommend approvals for medical colleges.
The push for NCHRH comes against the backdrop of the alleged corruption charges raised against MCI President Ketan Desai. Under the current MCI rules, the health ministry does not have powers to remove an MCI president elected by its members. Desai, in CBI custody for allegedly accepting Rs 2 crore as bribe for sanctioning a medical college in Punjab, has indirectly fast-tracked the move to introduce a new law that overrides Medical Council Act 1956.
The draft NCHRH Bill, which was being circulated among the states for their feedback, talked about repealing MCI Act and replacing it by a new Act that would redefine MCI’s and other councils’ roles in approval of medical and health institutions. The Bill would soon undergo some finetuning before it was introduced in Parliament, official sources said.
“Even today, approvals for medical colleges are given by the health ministry. However, MCI is having control over the whole recognition procedure due to its role as an advisor that recommends such approvals. The new Act will allow the government to do it directly,” a ministry official said.
In addition to the Medical Council Act, the Pharmacy Act, 1948, The Dentists Act, 1948, The Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947, and the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992, stand to be repealed by the proposed new Act.
The draft Bill makes it clear that in case of a dispute between the central government and NCHRH, the decision of the central government will prevail.
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NCHRH will maintain a national live electronic register of health professionals to be known as the “National Register of Human Resources in Health”, which shall contain the names of all persons who are for the time being enrolled on any board and who possess any of the recognised qualifications. Currently, MCI does not have a comprehensive list of medical professionals.
NCHRH will recognise qualifications granted by both academic and non-academic universities in medical and health segments. It will prescribe minimum standards of education required for a medical practitioner, pharmacist, nurse, midwife, auxiliary nurse-midwife, health visitor, dentist, dental hygienist, dental mechanic, public health professional, psychiatrist, psychologist, counsellor, psychiatric social worker, etc.
Sources said the formation of NCHRH would help India go a long way in reducing manpower shortage in healthcare segment.
MCI may remain a body that issues ethical guidelines for the profession, but will soon have no say in the medical education system.