Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Will NMC Bill help common people?' that was published in Newsband

Will NMC Bill help common people?

The Union Cabinet approved six out of the dozens of changes to the contentious National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill that were suggested by a Parliamentary Standing Committee. The NMC, the regulatory body that will replace the Medical Council of India, will be heavily controlled by the government.

An amendment that doesn’t go far enough is the decision to raise the proportion of private college seats for which fees will be regulated from 40% to 50%. The fees for unregulated seats could then skyrocket, pushing poorer medical aspirants out of the system.

Despite these deficiencies, the legislation will mark a new era for medical education in India. The next step will be to design rules and regulations that capture the intent of this law.

But how will the logistical difficulty of conducting a common final year MBBS examination across the country be overcome? Another concern is that under the new amendments States now have the freedom to implement an AYUSH bridge course, even if no longer mandatory. How will the Centre ensure the quality of such courses to prevent a new set of poorly trained doctors from emerging?

The Union Health Ministry has called a delegation of doctors from the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to discuss their opposition against the National Medical Commission bill (NMC) following a call by the Association for an indefinite strike from April 2.

The meeting will see discussion on why the doctors are rejecting some of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the NMC. The NMC bill proposes to allow practitioners of alternative medicines—such as homoeopathy and ayurveda—to practice modern system of medicine.

The proposed strike which will be headed by IMA has support from The Medicos Youth National Action Council formed jointly by all medical students and resident doctors’ associations. The Association has also noted that violence against the doctors should stop immediately.

According to IMA Vijayawada chapter president Dr. M. Subhash Chandra Bose, the proposed NMC Bill is against the welfare of people and the patients and would let in all sorts of corruption in healthcare. Dr. Bose said that the Bill would harm the healthy fabric of the medical community.

If the bill helps common people then it should be passed irrespective of what the Doctors feel. If the Doctors have a point then that also should be taken into consideration.