New Delhi: The term of the existing Board
of doctors governing the Medical Council of India was today
extended by a year.
The extension was given at a meeting of the Union
Cabinet held here.
The six-member body which has replaced the erstwhile
MCI consists of eminent doctors like Devi Shetty, Sita Naik
and is headed by Dr S K Sarin.
The government had decided to bring in an ordinance to
replace the MCI with the board after a crisis hit the
regulatory body after its president Ketan Desai was arrested
April 22 last year by the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs two crore to
recognise a medical college in Punjab though it did not meet
MCI standards.
The MCI, a statutory body, tasked to oversee the
standards of medical education in India, grants recognition to
medical degrees, gives accreditation to medical colleges,
registers medical practitioners and monitors medical practice
in the country.
In the aftermath of Desai`s resignation and setting up
of the board, the government had amended the Indian Medical
Council Act, 1956, to inserted Article 3 (a) through an
ordinance that authorises the government to intervene in
matters of "national policy".
In case of a dispute over "national policy," the view
of the government will prevail.
PTI
