By Amrit Pal Brar
Bathinda, 30 July
Dr. Vitull K. Gupta, Chairman, Association of Physicians of India (Malwa Branch) said that passing of National Medical Commission Bill in Lok Sabha yesterday will be remembered as the ‘Black Day’ in history of medical education as NMC bill has all the ingredient to ruin medical education by proposing to regulate fees up to 50% of seats in private medical colleges, a common entrance exam and licentiate, the National Exit Test (NEXT) for medical graduates, medical institutions need not take the regulator’s permission to add more seats or start PG course, no checks for quality of medical colleges and education, fewer elected members, dilution of state medical councils powers and representation to the states by rotation making NMC Bill an anti poor, anti people, anti doctor and anti federal law, which will promote production of substandard doctors especially in unregulated private medical colleges compromising the merit as only those who can pay will be able to afford the expansive medical education.
Dr. Vitull said that Medical Council of India even under Board of Governors miserably failed to maintain the standard of Medical Education as gross unethical and illegal practices during MCI inspections where very common and open and MCI inspectors ignored the gross deficiencies like rented patients, ghost faculty, dummy case files and factitious death and birth registers under the hypnotizing influence of cash or kind and gave recognition to run the medical college.
Yet out of fear of inspections the private medical, colleges tried to improve the conditions, but if there is no fear of inspections, one can very well imagine what will happen to the medical colleges, he said further.
Dr. Vitull said that government should have initiated radical reforms targeting MCI rather than enacting the disastrous and dangerous NMC Bill.
As Health and human rights activist Dr. Vitull appealed to all the doctors and civil society to strongly oppose NMC Bill to save medical education as well as the ethical health care.
