Health Minister responds in Parliament on asset disclosure of NMC members

New Delhi: Amidst the pressure on the National Medical Commission (NMC) to declare the assets and liabilities of the Chairperson and the members, the Union Minister of State for Health, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar on Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha that the Chairperson and members have submitted the prescribed declaration.

It is mandatory for the Chairperson and every member of NMC to declare their assets and liabilities at the time of entering the office and at the time of emitting it. According to Section 6(6) of the NMC Act 2019, "The Chairperson and every member of the Commission shall make declaration of his assets and his liabilities at the time of entering upon his office and at the time of demitting his office and also declare his professional and commercial engagement or involvement in such form and manner as may be prescribed, and such declaration shall be published on the website of the Commission."

The matter was raised in the Parliament by Rajya Sabha member Shri A.D.Singh who sought to know from the MoS Health if under the NMC Act, the Chairperson and every member of the Commission has to declare their assets and liabilities while taking charge and demitting office. 

Further, he asked if the concerned provisions are followed by NMC and he also sought the details and assets and liabilities of the Chairperson and the Members of the Commission.

While responding to these queries, MoS Health, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar stated, "The section 6(6) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, 2019 provides that Chairperson and every member of the Commission shall make declaration of his assets and his liabilities at the time of entering upon his office and at the time of demitting his office. The present Chairperson is holding post since inception of NMC and as per the information provided by NMC, the Chairperson and members have submitted the prescribed declaration."

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that alleging a lack of transparency in the functioning of the Commission, RTI activist Dr. Babu KV had previously filed several applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The first application was filed on April 5 and referring to Section 6(6) of the NMC Act 2019, Dr. Babu sought the details of disclosure by the Chairman and members of NMC along with the details of disclosure by those who demitted NMC. Again, another application was filed by him on May 6, 2023. However, he did not receive any response from the Commission.

Dr. Babu also wrote a letter to the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on June 12 seeking response. Pointing out that NMC was violating NMC Act and RTI Act 2005, Dr. Babu had urged the Union Health Ministry to invoke section 45 of the NMC Act 2019 and direct the Commission to comply with NMC Act 6(6) and disclose the assets and liabilities without any delay.

To view the document, click on the link below:

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/nmc-asset-disclosure-215105.pdf

Also Read: Pressure on NMC, Health Ministry for asset disclosure of NMC members