'Bridge course provision omitted from NMC Bill, Cabinet nod awaited'

The health ministry has "omitted" the contentious provision of a bridge course, proposed in the National Medical Commission Bill, which allows practitioners of alternative medicines to pursue allopathy, while finalising several other amendments in the Bill which has been sent it to the Cabinet for approval, sources said today.

The health ministry is also learnt to have replaced the provisions of the National Licentiate Examination with a 'Common Final Year MBBS Exam' and the term National Licentiate Examination (NLE) with National Exit Test (NEXT), according to the sources.

"The amended version of the bill is likely to come up in the Cabinet tomorrow," a senior government official told PTI, adding, "Once the amendments are approved by the Cabinet, the bill will be tabled in Parliament."