Will urge Centre to amend NMC, vows Health Minister

Finding no fault in Centre’s making necessary reforms to enhance transparency of the functioning of the apex medical body, the minister observed it would require more thought to bring about the legislation without affecting the practising doctors, medical students and aspirants. 

There are allegations that the bill will favour the private medical education while the doctors and medicos are also apprehensive of such a future. The minister observed that the state through its Health department had given a detailed memorandum to the Centre and to necessitate changes in the bill, and would follow it up on the same. “I’m not welcoming the bill. The provisions of the bill have to be tweaked,” he observed. Not to affect the medical education, doctors’ practitioners and reservation, among others, we will impress Centre through our CM in this regard, he said.

On allegations of the Bill favouring private institutions, the Minister said that the Centre should be cautious while adopting the Bill. “It should be tweaked in such a way that it puts to rest such apprehensions. Mutual consultation among the stakeholders, including states, would help diffuse the bottlenecks present in the proposed legislation,” he suggested. 

Reacting to the stir by doctors, the Minister pointed out that Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association and Indian Medical Association had assured to ensure that no patient was affected because of the agitation. “It is a democratic token stir that went on for about an hour. They had also made elaborate arrangements before the protest. Similar stand had been taken by the doctors in private sector too. They had assured that they would not deprive any emergency procedures including surgeries,” he said.