New Delhi, May 05: It may well be called the Ketan Desai effect. Flummoxed by the arrested Medical Council of India ( MCI) president Desai’s alleged corrupt dealings, the government has now pinned its hopes on a proposed overarching body to regulate all genres of medical education in the country.
Its hands are tied because a standing committee of Parliament has rejected amendments to the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 that the government holds critical.
The government expects the new body — National Council for Human Resources in Health, announced in the President’s address last June — to help stem the rot in the system.
The systemic rot came into stark limelight during a calling attention discussion on MCI’s functioning in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday with some MPs alleging that several politicians were themselves owner- partners of such colleges.
The amendments that the government had proposed dealt with issues such as limiting the tenures of MCI president and vice- president to two terms, according Centre the power to dissolve the council’s executive president and enabling the government to issue directions to the council.
Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “ The number of private medical colleges has substantially increased. This has, in fact, become a cause for rising corruption because there is an acute lack of qualified faculty.” M. Rama Jois of BJP pointed out an “ innovative” element that has kept the racket in grant of recognition ticking. “ An MBBS course takes five years to complete. But the MCI has often granted ‘ temporary’ recognition to them for two to three years. This is aimed at minting money,” he said.
The Rajya Sabha was also informed of instances when the MCI president, vice- president and members have been on the governing boards of private medical colleges. “ This is a pure case of conflict of interests,” CPM’s Brinda Karat said.
—Agencies