India's attempt to reform medical councils sparks protest

Abstract

The Indian Government’s bid to reform the councils in charge of doctors, dentists, and pharmacists in India has run into trouble with leading national medical associations crying foul over alleged democratic and fundamental rights violations and the government’s inability to reach any consensus with the various stake holders. The disagreement culmin ated in a nationwide doctors’ strike on June 25. In 2010, the Indian Government superseded the powers of the elected Medical Council of India (MCI), the apex medical regulatory body in India following allegations of fi nancial corruption made against the MCI board of governors. To replace MCI, the government has proposed the establishment of a National Commission for Human Resources for Health (NCHRH) in a new bill. The bill creates a 13-member nominated commission, which will undertake all the functions of the current MCI, Dental Council of India, and Pharmacy Council of India, thereby subsuming all their powers. However, the bill, currently under review in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, has caused huge protests from various stakeholders led by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and fl ared up by the opposition and some allies of the coalition government. The IMA has demanded complete scrapping of the bill. Dev Raj Rai, the Honorary Secretary General of the IMA, informs The Lancet that “The MCI was an autonomous body with elected representatives from all stakeholders like states, health universities, and medical associations. However, the members of the proposed commission and its boards and committees are all government nominees. We wonder how will there be a fair assessment of medical education and health-care delivery by this commission. It is unfortunate that in a democratic nation an elected representative council is being brought under the aegis of a non-elected body.” Devendra Shirole, National Vice President of the IMA, adds: “The government also has powers to supersede this commission and thus there is no provision for voicing opposition. The commission will have no option but to dance to the tunes of the government. With a handful of nominated members doing everything it will only lead to more and more corruption.”