IT Correspondent
New Delhi, Sept 26:
The National Medical Commission(NMC), in place of the Medical Council of India (MCI), for development and regulation of all aspects of medical education and profession, came into existence from Friday, a gazette notification said.
With the NMC coming into being, the Board of Governors (BoG), which superseded the MCI on September 26, 2018, to perform its functions, got dissolved and the nearly 64-year-old Indian Medical Council Act now stands abolished.
Former head of Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences, ENT department, Dr Suresh Chandra Sharma has been appointed as Chairman of the NMC, for a period of three years with effect from September 25, while Rakesh Kumar Vats, at present, the Secretary General in the Board of Governors of the MCI, will be the secretary of the NMC.
The four autonomous boards under the NMC Act — the Under-Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), Post-Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), Medical Assessment and Rating Board and the Ethics and Medical Registration Board — have also been constituted, according to the notifications issued by Nipun Vinayak, Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Health.
The NMC comprises a chairman, 10 ex-officio members, who include presidents of the four autonomous boards and 22 part-time members. In pursuance of the provisions of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, the central government hereby constitutes the National Medical Commission. Now, therefore, the central government hereby notifies that all the remaining provisions of the NMC Act, 2019, shall come into force with effect from the 25th day of September, 2020, the notification stated.
On January 2, Dr Sharma, was appointed the chairman of the NMC, after the Appointments Committee of the cabinet approved his appointment for a period of three years. Under sub-section (2) of section 4, the chairperson of the NMC (Dr Suresh Chandra Sharma) is appointed for a period of three years with effect from the 25th day of September. Also, Rakesh Kumar Vats, the Secretary General in the Board of Governors of the MCI was appointed as the secretary of the commission for a similar term on January 2.
The NMC Act, which seeks to usher in mega reforms in the medical education sector, received the assent of the president on August 8 and was published the same day. The Act provided for setting up of an NMCÂ in place of the Medical Council of India.
