New Delhi: A bill seeking to extend the
tenure of the re-constituted apex body governing health
education Medical Council of India (MCI) by another year was
introduced in Rajya Sabha on Friday.
The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill has already
been passed in Lok Sabha.
The government had superseded the MCI, a statutory body,
in May last year following allegations of large-scale
corruption against its then President and other officials by
issuing an Ordinance. The Ordinance was replaced by the Indian
Medical Council (Amendment) Act, 2010.
As per the provisions of the Act, the Council had to be
reconstituted within a period of one year from the date of its
supersession and the government had appointed a Board of
Governors for a period of one year.
Meanwhile, the government had initiated a process to set
up National Commission for Human Resources for Health (NCHRH)
as an overarching regulatory body. However, it could not be
established and the bill had to be amended to extend the
tenure for reconstitution of the Council.
Introducing the bill, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad
said, "The process of enacting NCHRH legislation has taken
more time. The NCHRH bill requires 6-7 months more. In such
circumstances, it was considered necessary to increase the
period of reconstitution of the Council from one year to two
years."
PTI
