Fake Registration of Doctors: Doctors' Associations demand Elections for Rajasthan Medical Council Members

Jaipur: Pressure mounts on the Rajasthan government as the state branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and other doctor's associations have united together demanding the commencement of elections for Rajasthan Medical Council (RMC) members, which have not been held for over two decades.

This action follows the suspension of the Registrar of the Rajasthan Medical Council (RMC), along with two other personnel in connection with the registration of doctors using fake documents.

Medical Dialogues had recently reported that the decision to suspend the RMC Registrar and officials was taken based on an interim report by a five-member committee set up by the State Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khinvsar. Based on the interim report, the Registrar of the Council, Dr Rajesh Sharma, assistant administrative officer Akhilesh Mathur, and Junior Assistant Farhan were suspended with immediate effect.

Also read- Rajasthan Medical Council Registrar suspended over Fake Registrations of Doctors

In response to the scam, IMA along with other doctors' associations have called for transparency by urging the government to conduct fresh elections for the council members.

The core of the dispute revolves around the lack of transparency and accountability within RMC. Some doctors have labelled this practice as undemocratic and harmful and used terms like 'prioritisation of politics over merit' and' autocratic' to the functioning of the medical profession.

Expressing serious concerns over the current structure of RMC, IMA national vice-president-elect Dr Sunil Chugh told TOI, “No election has been conducted at RMC for over two decades. RMC has been filled with nominated individuals for many years, depriving doctors and health universities of their right to choose their representatives. We have written to the state govt several times demanding elections for RMC.

Calling for transparency in the operations held by RMC, IMA state president Dr Rajnish Sharma told the Daily, “RMC is the most important statutory body of the doctors in the state. Hence it must be transparent and accountable. We are receiving complaints from the doctors on the functioning of RMC. We demand that the govt hold elections for RMC,” he said.

Dr Vijay Kapoor, the president of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Society, "All constitutional posts in organisations of the medical profession in the govt sector, be it, registrar of RMC, principal of medical colleges, superintendent of govt hospitals, and vice-chancellors of medical universities, are decided by politicians in power today. Democratic elections must be held at RMC to revive it."

Only in July 2024, the Rajasthan Medical Council issued an advisory for the hospitals and nursing homes in the State, asking them to verify the degrees and credentials of doctors before employing them. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that RMC issued this advisory after taking cognisance of the instances where unqualified and underqualified doctors were employed in the hospitals, nursing homes, and clinical establishments in the State.