Medical Council of India: A Bane for Medical Aspirants

We have been plagued by the inconsistency surrounding the acceptance of NEET medical entrance exam in India as well as validity of state run medical entrance exams in the recent times. Students planning to appear for the medical entrance 2016 have already appeared for NEET 2016 first phase or will appear in the 2016 NEET second phase of exam scheduled to be held on July 24, 2016.

Some states in India had proposed conducting their own entrance exams, which was denied by the Apex Court, on the pretext that a consolidated exam will apply to all medical colleges in India.

In the event of such chaos, who is to blame? The Medical Council of India is the ultimate authority to conduct, execute, rate and assign colleges to medical aspirants in the country.

President of the Punjab Medical Council Dr. GS Grewal, talking about MCi’s incompetency said, "Today there's a situation where there are no patients, no professors but thousands of students passing out of colleges as doctors every year. There are so many ghost colleges. Their grades on paper are even better than the marks medical students get in government colleges. Despite writing letters to MCI to take action, nothing has been done."

The standing committee of Parliament also published a report highlighting the shortcoming of the MCI, saying "... corruption in MCI, proliferation of private medical colleges, entrenched culture of capitation fees in the college linked with commercialization of medical education are among the root cause behind the current problems in the health care sector."

Keshav Desiraju, Former Health Secretary, Government of India, who is also a signatory said, "the Medical Council needs to go. We need a new law. The functions of the Medical Council need to be separated and insulated, one from the other- curriculum and syllabus, registration and accreditation and the practice of the profession."

With inputs from NDTV