The Hindu: KOZHIKODE: Tuesday, 18 February 2025.
Some key posts in the National Medical Commission (NMC), the statutory body that regulates medical professionals and medical education in the country, have been vacant for some months now.
The NMC has a president and
a secretary, apart from ex-officio members, part-time members, and the
nominated ones. Its autonomous boards such as the Post Graduate Medical
Education Board (PGMEB), Under Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB),
Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB), and the Ethics and Medical
Registration Board (EMRB) have a president and two whole-time and two part-time
members. These NMC functionaries took charge on September 25, 2020, and they
had a tenure of four years or 70 years of age, whichever was earlier.
Replying to an RTI query by Kannur-based ophthalmologist K.V. Babu, the commission said on February 3 that some of the key posts except that of its chairman and president of the PGMEB are yet to be filled. The vacant posts are secretary, NMC; president and part-time and whole-time members, UGMEB; part-time and whole-time members, PGMEB; president and part-time and whole-time members, MARB; and president and part-time and whole-time members, EMRB. Though the commission issued a notification in August 2024 to fill these posts, the procedure is yet to be completed. The RTI reply said that “the process of appointment of eligible candidates to vacant posts in the NMC is under consideration”. The authorities also refused to share details of the names of those who applied for the various posts, saying it “pertains to third party information”.
“Though some other members completed their term after they crossed the mandatory age bar, the commission had invited applications for those posts in June 2023 itself. The process, however, got completed only in July 2024. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare should have invited applications for the posts that fell vacant in September 2024 well in advance,” Dr. Babu said. Instead of functioning as an autonomous institution regulating medical education, at present the commission is run directly by the Union government, he claimed.
Some key posts in the National Medical Commission (NMC), the statutory body that regulates medical professionals and medical education in the country, have been vacant for some months now.
Replying to an RTI query by Kannur-based ophthalmologist K.V. Babu, the commission said on February 3 that some of the key posts except that of its chairman and president of the PGMEB are yet to be filled. The vacant posts are secretary, NMC; president and part-time and whole-time members, UGMEB; part-time and whole-time members, PGMEB; president and part-time and whole-time members, MARB; and president and part-time and whole-time members, EMRB. Though the commission issued a notification in August 2024 to fill these posts, the procedure is yet to be completed. The RTI reply said that “the process of appointment of eligible candidates to vacant posts in the NMC is under consideration”. The authorities also refused to share details of the names of those who applied for the various posts, saying it “pertains to third party information”.
“Though some other members completed their term after they crossed the mandatory age bar, the commission had invited applications for those posts in June 2023 itself. The process, however, got completed only in July 2024. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare should have invited applications for the posts that fell vacant in September 2024 well in advance,” Dr. Babu said. Instead of functioning as an autonomous institution regulating medical education, at present the commission is run directly by the Union government, he claimed.
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