Recently, the Supreme Court appointed a committee to oversee the common medical entrance exam, indicting the Medical Council for its inability to regulate admissions.
Doctors and social workers from across India have joined hands to sound an alarm over medical education, seeking an overhaul of the Medical Council of India, the regulator plagued by serious corruption charges.
Well known Surgeon, Dr. Samiran Nundy told NDTV, "We are proposing that the process of appointing members to the MCI be made transparent to include half nominated members and half lay persons of high ethical standards."
Dr GS Grewal, who is the President of the Punjab Medical Council, added, "Today there's a situation where there are no patients, no professors but thousands of students passing out of colleges as doctors every year. There are so many ghost colleges. Their grades on paper are even better than the marks medical students get in government colleges. Despite writing letters to MCI to take action, nothing has been done."
The standing committee of Parliament was scathing in its recent report, saying "... corruption in MCI, proliferation of private medical colleges, entrenched culture of capitation fees in the college linked with commercialisation of medical education are among the root cause behind the current problems in the health care sector."
Recently, the Supreme Court also appointed a three-member committee to oversee the common medical entrance exam, indicting the Medical Council for its inability to regulate admissions. The top court's decision comes even as five former health secretaries are among those who have urged PM Modi to revamp the MCI calling it a "highly corrupt and shameful" organization.
Keshav Desiraju, Former Health Secretary, Government of India, who is also a signatory said, "the medical council needs to go. We need a new law. The functions of the medical council need to be separated and insulated, one from the other- curriculum and syllabus, registration and accreditation and the practice of the profession."
The NITI Aayog is working on addressing issues related to the health sector and the MCI that have been detailed in the Parliamentary committee report.