Pressure on NMC, Health Ministry for asset disclosure of NMC members

New Delhi: The National Medical Commission (NMC), as well as the Health Ministry, have now found themselves at the receiving end of allegations of lack of transparency as doctors have alleged that NMC members are not making full asset disclosure required by the law.

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."

Leading this charge with complaints of lack of transparency in the functioning of the commission, Dr Babu KV has filed an application to build pressure on the NMC and disclose their assets.

Speaking to Medical Dialogues, RTI Activist Dr Babu KV pointed out that despite this rule, to this date, no such declaration has been published by the Commission on its website and alleged that the NMC chose to remain silent despite repeated applications filed under the Right to Information (RTI). In fact, even though he approached the Union Health Ministry as well, no action has been taken in this regard until this day, he said.

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 NMC Act 2019 and direct the Commission to comply with NMC Act 6(6) and disclose the assets and liabilities without any delay.

"Though the MCI was replaced with the NMC on the issue of transparency it's clear that neither the NMC nor the Government of India are keen about transparency in the functioning of the NMC," he alleged.

Also Read: NMC refuses to disclose Details Of Assets and liabilities of its members, RTI unanswered