Ordinance to be issued to extend MCI Board term

Updated on: Friday, April 15, 2011

The Union government will bring in an ordinance to extend the term by another year of the Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India (MCI) even as one of the members, Dr. Devi Shetty, has reportedly offered to resign citing hectic work schedule.

However, his offer was turned down.

The term of the present Board, chaired by S.K. Sarin, expires on May 14. The ordinance was sent to the Cabinet for clearance.
Amendment Bill

The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry intended to get an amendment Bill to this effect approved in Parliament but since the budget session hardly took up any legislative business and was curtailed due to Assembly elections, it could not be tabled.

Now with Parliament expected to meet only for the monsoon session, the Ministry has decided to issue an ordinance to extend the term as lapsing of the Indian Medical Council (amendment) Act, 2010 would automatically result in the revival of the superseded Council once again.

The ordinance would have to be ratified in the next session.

The ordinance is expected to change some members on the Board and include those who have experience in medical education.

The Board, which superseded the MCI, has six members at present though there is provision for seven members.

The new members will be named in the ordinance itself as was done last time.

Authoritative sources in the Ministry told The Hindu that while all members of the Board were of high repute, they did not have any expertise in medical education and were unable to devote much time to the MCI affairs due to their pre-occupations.
Different voices

Also, the feedback received by the Ministry suggested that the Board members often spoke in different voices.

The government issued an ordinance last year to supersede the MCI with the Board after its president, Ketan Desai, was arrested on April 22 last year by the CBI for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs. 2 crore to recognise a medical college in Punjab though it did not meet the MCI standards.

The MCI, a statutory body, grants recognition to medical degrees, gives accreditation to medical colleges, registers medical practitioners and monitors medical practice in the country.

The government subsequently amended the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, and inserted Article 3 (a) through an ordinance that authorises the government to intervene in matters of “national policy.”

The MCI general body was superseded only for a year as the government planned to bring in the National Council for Human Resources in Health (NCHRH) Bill before the term ended.

The NCHRH would have subsumed the MCI and all other regulatory bodies. However, the Bill is yet to be cleared by the Cabinet.

Ordinance to be issued to extend MCI Board term

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