NMC Bill- A Difficult Pill to Swallow?

After the Medical Council of India (MCI) was dissolved in the year 2010 and was proposed to be replaced by the National Medical Council. Though it came up in multiple Lok Sabha sessions, it was passed last week and in the lower house. Subsequently, even the Rajya Sabha passed the NMC bill on Thursday with some minor amendments. However, it is a difficult pill for the medical fraternity to swallow.

The NMC bill is being promoted as one of the current government’s most visionary reforms. But, the reaction to the bill was not as expected. As soon as the bill was passed, lakhs of doctors, including the Indian Medical Council (IMC) members, took to the streets to protest and declared all non-essential medical services will be shut until 6 am on 1st Aug 2019. But, their protest continued well into Friday as well.

The MCI was the most superior body for the medical fraternity in the country for many years. However, it is well known for its level of corruption and that was one of the main reasons, amongst many others, for the government to replace the IMC. But, the medical fraternity, as well as health experts, have raised serious concerns over the NMC bill.

One of the main points of the argument made by the medical fraternity is section 32 of the bill that allows 3.5 lakh health providers to practise medicine after registering themselves. This, they say, is legalising ‘quackery’ and malpractice by allowing unqualified individuals to provide healthcare services. There is a lack of clarity about who these ‘healthcare providers’ really are.

According to the government, this was needed to be done in the NMC bill to overcome the shortage of doctors in rural areas and make healthcare more affordable and accessible. But, according to the doctors protesting the bill, this is a clear case of bias and a rural-urban divide, where the urban patients will be treated by qualified doctors holding MBBS degrees whereas, the patients in the rural areas will be treated by unqualified quacks! 

The NMC will contain 29 members of which 20 will be nominated and only 9 will be elected from the fraternity. The bill will also make changes in medical education in the country and wipe out the currently existing system of PG entrance exams by having an exit exam called NEXT. However, the medical fraternity, along with many opposition leaders have strongly opposed to the bill and the IMA has also warned that the protests against the bill will only intensify if the demands of the doctors about changes in the bill are not made. 

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