Maharashtra Medical Council polls held after 10-year gap, results on April 29
Mumbai: The elections for the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) were conducted after a gap of nearly 10 years on Sunday, with 60 candidates in the fray for nine seats.
Following the Supreme Court's directive in January, the election process was completed within the stipulated three-month period. The election was announced on February 20. The vote counting will take place on April 29 at the Haffkine Institute in Parel, and the results will be declared on the same day.
According to the MMC website, there were approximately 60 candidates and four panels in the electoral fray. The total number of eligible voters exceeded 143,000, and voter turnout stood at a mere 13.9%. Polling stations were established across all districts of the state, including Mumbai, where voting took place at two centres, i.e. JJ Hospital (for the Island City) and Vakola Public School (for suburban Mumbai), according to HT.
The elections took place against the backdrop of a state government decision to abolish the MMC's electoral process and, henceforth, appoint its members directly through nomination. However, doctors strongly opposed this move. To implement this change, the government issued an ordinance approving amendments to the 'Maharashtra Medical Council Act, 1965'. Last week, the government had also filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking the cancellation of the elections; however, the Court dismissed the petition.
On this, the 'Healing Hands Unity Panel' (HHUP) had pledged to restore the voting rights of approximately 72,000 doctors whose names were removed from the voter list due to a failure to renew their registrations. Furthermore, the panel had also promised to open regional MMC offices, simplify the registration process, extend the credit point renewal cycle to 10 years, and provide free online CME programs, reports Free Press Journal.
The last MMC election was held in December 2016. Upon the completion of its five-year tenure, the State Government dissolved the council, and the elections scheduled for 2022 were postponed. For the past three years, the MMC has been functioning under an administrator.
The MMC is a quasi-judicial body responsible for overseeing the medical profession and addressing malpractice and negligence cases. MMC has asked the doctors to renew their membership to remain eligible for voting and other privileges.
