New Delhi, May 15
Scam-hit Medical Council of India’s 54-year run ended today, with the President signing the ordinance to dissolve it and hand over its affairs to a six-member Board of Governors (BoG). The move comes after the Union Cabinet approved the ordinance following MCI chief Ketan Desai’s arrest on corruption charges, and the Prime Minister vetted the new board at a meeting with Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad yesterday.

With the Law Ministry issuing a notification today, the BoG assumes immediate charge of MCI and will function for a year till the new Council is constituted under an new arrangement to restore its credibility. The BoG will, till then, have absolute powers (of MCI and Health Ministry) in respect of granting recognition to colleges and other related tasks.

The Government has, however, retained its right to give directions on policy matters to the BoG. The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance 2010, as signed by the President today, states that the “decision of the Government on whether a question is a matter of policy or not shall be final”. It adds: “The BoGs shall be bound by such directions on question of policy other than those related to technical and administrative matters as the Central Government may give in writing to it from time to time.”

Through a separate notification, the Government appointed the BoG, whom the ordinance refers to as “persons of eminence and unimpeachable integrity in the field of medicine and medical education.” Dr SK Sarin, Director, Institute of Liver and Biliary Services, an autonomous body under the Delhi Government, will be ex-officio chairman of the board. Other members will be Dr Gautam Sen, renowned cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon; Dr Sita Naik, former Head of Immunology Department at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow; cardiac surgeon Devi Shetty of Narayana Hridalaya ; leading clinical pharmacologist Dr Ranjit Roy Choudhry and former Medical Superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi; RN Salhan, currently Dean, Sikkim Manipal University of Medical Sciences. Most board members, except Devi Shetty, are little known.

Their immediate task would be to clear the backlog (about 70 cases) of admissions to medical colleges for the current year, the deadline being June 15. Gradually they would be required to give a road map to the Government on how to reconstitute the MCI while keeping its autonomy intact. Amendments to the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 would then be made.

The ordinance for its part gives the Centre powers to supersede the MCI by constituting the BoG. This provision was absent in the existing MCI Act. By inserting three new sections (3A, 3B, 3C) through the ordinance (a copy of which is with The Tribune), the Government has dissolved the existing council. The ordinance states: “From this day, the MCI shall stand superseded and the president, vice president and the members of the council shall vacate their offices and shall have no claim for any compensation whatsoever.”

The BoG will “grant independently permission for establishment of new medical colleges or opening a new or higher course of study or training or increase in admission capacity in any course of study or giving a person or college concerned a reasonable opportunity of being heard”. It can exercise its aforementioned powers without prior permission of the Government. Ministry sources, meanwhile, said a draft law was being prepared to create an overarching regulator for medical education.