The National Medical Council will replace the Medical Council of India with the Centre on Wednesday giving the nod for the National Medical Commission Bill, 2019.
The Bill is aimed at bringing in reforms in medical education, replacing Indian Medical Council Act of 1956. The bill will be presented in the ongoing parliament session.
The Bill has proposed National Exist Test, a common final year MBBS examination. This exam would serve as an exam for PG courses and also would be a screening test for students who had studied abroad.
In the Bill, it has also been proposed to make NEET, NEXT and common counselling for Institutions of national Importance such as AIIMS so that a common standard could be provided across the country.
Another important feature in the bill is that the NMC would be regulating the fees in private colleges and deemed universities. The assessment of medical colleges would be done by the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB).
As per the draft Bill, the national medical council will have four autonomous boards – Under Graduate Medical Board, PG Medical Board, MARB and Ethics and Medical Registration Board.
The Bill was mooted in 2016 and NITI Aayog had presented the first Draft, which was widely opposed by the medical fraternity and medical students. Though the bill was first introduced in parliament in 2017, it had lapsed because of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
