Live: Amid protests from doctors, Rajya Sabha passes NMC Bill

Amid widespread protests from the medical community, the Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Bill while Rajya Sabha passed it on Thursday.

Intensifying its protests against the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill for the second consecutive day, the Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) of Safdarjung Hospital in the national capital has called for an indefinite strike to be observed from Thursday. The All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) will also go on strike for a day. Amid widespread protests from the medical community, the Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Bill and by Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

The NMC Bill which was passed by the Lok Sabha on July 29 seeks to create the National Medical Commission (NMC) in place of Medical Council of India (MCI). The Bill also proposes a common final-year MBBS examination, known as National Exit Test (NEXT), for admission to post-graduate medical courses and for obtaining a license to practice medicine.

Besides this, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), common counselling and NEXT would be applicable to institutes of national importance like AIIMS in order to achieve a common standard in medical education in the country. The Bill was passed with 260 members voting in its favour and 48 against it.

Here are the live updates:

01 August 2019

18:02 IST

Rajya Sabha passes National Medical Commission Bill, 2019.

10:44 IST

Medical students in Kerala protest against National Medical Commission Bill in front of Raj Bhavan in Trivandrum.

Kerala: Medical students protest against National Medical Commission Bill, 2019 in front of Raj Bhavan in Trivandrum. pic.twitter.com/nPCPjWhFCe

— ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2019