In order to bring transparency and improve the quality of medical education in the country, a high-level panel headed by Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya is likely to suggest winding up of Medical Council of India (MCI) and replacing it with a National Medical Commission. The new body will act as the regulator and also advise the government on policy and curriculum preparation for medical colleges across India.
To bring in professionalism and world-class medical infrastructure, the new body will be assisted by 20-member National Medical Commission, comprising four independent boards, replacing MCI. These boards would be for an undergraduate medical Board, postgraduate board, Assessment and Rating Board and a board of medical register that will keep a record of people qualified to practise as doctors. Each of the four boards would be headed by a chairman and be fully autonomous in its functioning.
The biggest change under the new system would be that its members would be selected on merit by a high powered search-cum-selection panel and would not be elected, as in the past, by MCI. The selection process will be transparent and would ensure that the best of brains in the medical fraternity are members of the commission. To make such a structure operational, the Medical Council of India Act would have to be amended. The MCI is a statutory body with the responsibility of establishing and maintaining standards of medical education and recognition of medical qualifications in India. It registers doctors to practice in India.
The panel which is looking into the issue of poor regulation of medical education by MCI, apart from Panagariya also includes Prime Minister's Additional Principal Secretary PK Mishra, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Health Secretary Bhahanu Pratap Sharma.