Updated on: Monday, June 27, 2011
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has said the contentious issue of inclusion of medical education under the proposed National Commission of Higher Education and
Research (NCHER) has been "resolved" and the draft bill will now be placed before the Cabinet.
"The matter has been resolved with the Health Ministry", he said but refused to elaborate further.He was asked if medical education would come under the purview of the proposed body.
"We have resolved that issue. That is now going to the Cabinet and then introduced in Parliament," he told. The NCHER would be an overarching body subsuming all existing regulatory bodies including UGC, AICTE, Council of
Distance Education etc.
The tussle between the HRD Ministry and Health Ministry on the jurisdiction of medical education erupted two years ago, with the Prime Minister's Office later stepping in to resolve the issue.
The Health Ministry has been insisting that as medical education was closely linked with health infrastructure, it should come under the ambit of the proposed National
Commission on Human Resource for Health.Sibal said in all 13 to 14 key legislations on reforms in higher education would come up in the Monsoon Session of
Parliament beginning August 1.