Does NMC need a revamp? Centre ropes in IIM

New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has enlisted the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) to restructure and reform the National Medical Commission (NMC), the Apex Medical Education Regulatory Body, three officials familiar with the matter informed Mint.

For this, a senior faculty member of IIM-A has spoken to all four autonomous boards of the Commission including the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB), and Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB).

The Faculty member has prepared a report specifying the ways to improve the National Medical Commission's day-to-day functioning and address the challenges.

Also Read: Top NMC posts lying vacant for months- Check out Health Ministry update

As per the latest media report by Mint, the new plan of the IIM-A could involve appointing individual secretaries for each of the four boards. Commenting on the matter, one of the three officials informed the Daily on the condition of anonymity, "A committee has been constituted by the government, and they invited IIM-A to study the gaps in the functioning of the NMC. Some major improvements may be seen in the NMC structure and certain changes may also be seen in the NMC Act. There is also a plan to have secretaries for each of the four different boards." However, the official added that the plan is not final and is still under consideration. 

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that a recent Right to Information (RTI) application revealed that all the posts of the National Medical Commission (NMC) except the post of the Chairperson of the Commission and the President of the PG Medical Education Board are lying vacant. Providing an update on the appointment, the Health Ministry stated that "The process of appointment of eligible candidate to vacant post in NMC is under consideration."

NMC only has a Secretary now, who is responsible for leading the Commission and ensuring its effective functioning. Now, the Central Government is roping in IIMA for restructuring and reforming NMC. Commenting on this, one of the officials, familiar with the matter, told Mint, "Once these secretaries for all the four boards are appointed, then these boards will have uniformity and have to play roles as it is defined in the NMC Act. In the past, these boards have been working in silos and reluctant to share any information with the NMC leadership. The goal is only to improve the functioning of the commission, address gaps so as to strengthen the quality and standard of medical education in the country."

While queries sent to the Health Ministry in this regard went unanswered, a second official who recently got relieved from NMC informed, "Last year, the health ministry had sent a senior faculty member from IIM-A to NMC. The faculty member interacted with each of the four boards about their day-to-day activities and prepared a report..."

"One of the major concerns which was expressed by all the boards was shortage of manpower in the NMC and political interventions," the official added.

Meanwhile, the third former NMC official added that the IIM-A faculty member stayed at the Commission for 2-3 days and spoke to individual boards and collected inputs.

"Largely, the boards highlighted their scope of work and challenges they are facing," added the official.

Last year, the Union Health Ministry invited applications to fill up vacant posts in the four Autonomous Boards of NMC. Applications were invited for the posts of President, Secretary, and members of the Commission, along with the key positions in the four boards under the NMC. Recently, the Union Health Minister J.P Nadda told the reporters that the government is working on getting new recruitments completed at NMC.

Also Read: Top NMC posts remain vacant, health ministry responds