The Union Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved certain official amendments to the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill. The government has recommended the amendments after they were made in the Standing Committee’s report.
There is a provision for a National Exit Test. Medical students will not have to appear in a separate test for getting a licence. The maximum limit of 40 % seats for which fee would be regulated in private medical institutions and deemed universities has been increased to 50 per cent seats.
Responding to the demands from States to increase their representation in the NMC, the nominees of States and UTs in the NMC have been increased from three to six. The NMC will comprise 25 members of which at least 21 will be doctors.
The government is concerned about the quality and safety of health care being made available to the citizens and the need to act strictly against unqualified practitioners or quacks.
The punishment for any unauthorised practice of medicine has been made severe by, including a provision for imprisonment of up to one year along with a fine extending up to Rs 5 lakh.
Another concern was the wide range of monetary penalty, ranging from one half to ten times the annual fee recovered from a batch, to be imposed in a graded manner on a medical college non-compliant with the norms.
The clause has been replaced with a provision which provides different options for warning, reasonable monetary penalty, reducing intake, stoppage of admission leading up to withdrawal of recognition.