FORDA delegates meet Parliamentary Standing Committee over NMC bill

New Delhi: Representatives of Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) submitted their recommendations regarding several provisions of the contentious National Medical Commission Bill, to the Parliamentary Standing Committee which is examining the proposed legislation.

The bill seeks to overhaul medical education, replace the Medical Council of India and also proposes allowing practitioners of alternative medicines, such as homoeopathy and Ayurveda, practise allopathy after completing a "bridge course". The NMC bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December last year and later referred to the parliamentary panel, following protests by doctors across the country.

Representatives of FORDA, an association for the welfare of resident doctors across India, was invited by the parliamentary panel for their recommendations. FORDA president Dr Vivek Chouksey said, "It (the Bill) promotes bureaucratisation and politicisation of medical education and does not provide independence to the NMC."