India Today: New Delhi: Wednesday,
March 08, 2017.
Answer keys
to the qualifying test for allowing foreign medical graduates to practice in
India cannot be disclosed as it would "dilute the standards" of
healthcare, the CIC has held.
Information
Commissioner Yashovardhan Azad gave this order on the plea of an RTI applicant
R Seshadri who had sought from the Medical Council of India (MCI) the question
papers along with the solutions, together commonly referred to as answer keys,
for the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE).
Any medical
graduate who had passed out from abroad, except some countries like the USA,
Canada, New Zealand, has to undertake the test.
Only after
qualifying in it the graduates can practice in India as registered medical
practitioners.
"...if
public disclosure of questions is allowed, this would lead to dilution of
standards by encouraging cramming which would be against the objectives of this
screening test," the Information Commissioner said.
The MCI had
refused to provide the answer keys citing exemption given under the RTI Act for
the information pertaining to commercial confidence, trade secrets or
intellectual property.
"FMGE is
aimed at assessing the depth of knowledge of a candidate and disclosure of
questions papers of previous years would diminish the rigour of the
examination," the National Board of Examination official said during the
hearing.
He also said
the questions designed for the FMGE are limited in number and disclosure of
past question papers would be counter-productive.
"It has
been argued by the appellant (Shesadri) that since the past percentage is very
low, the system is unfair to the student," Azad pointed out.
He said
Shesadri claims that the students who are appearing now in the FMGE are
graduates of well-run and equipped medical colleges in China and other places
and therefore, be given level-playing field by having a copy of the question
papers of previous years.
"The
Commission, however, is in full agreement with the NBEs averment...on the issue
that the guidelines on the parameters of this exam were laid down by the
Supreme Court itself which are being followed assiduously," Azad said.
He said the
question bank is limited and has been compiled with questions being contributed
by the experts in the area.
"These
experts have forfeited their proprietary right over the questions supplied to
the NBE. The NBE does not have any commercial interest in guarding this
question bank zealously," Azad said in his order.
The
Information Commissioner said the registration of a doctor with any State
Medical Council has an impact on public health and hence should be only done
after proper screening.
He said in
the case of doctors acquiring a foreign medical degree, it is of "critical
importance" that they go through the screening test to meet the exacting
standards before getting registered as doctors.
"Im left
with no doubt to conclude that disclosure sought in the present batch of
appeals is not in line with the object of the RTI Act, 2005...," he said.
PTI ABS AAR.
.JPG)
.JPG)
