The Indian Medical Association on Saturday reiterated its opposition to the National Medical Commission Bill, The New Indian Express reported.
The legislation, which Health Minister JP Nadda tabled in Parliament on Friday, seeks to replace the Medical Council of India and also proposes allowing practitioners of alternative medicines, such as homoeopathy and ayurveda, practise modern medicine after attending a short-term “bridge course”.
“This provision is totally unacceptable to us as it will lead to an army of half-baked doctors in the country,” said Indian Medical Association President KK Aggarwal.
The draft law is ambiguous about how such doctors will be registered and does not specify how such doctors will be held accountable in case of mistakes. “We, as an association, feel that by pushing this provision, the government is giving sanction to quackery,” Aggarwal said.
The medical association’s core committee will meet in New Delhi on Monday to chalk out its course of action, The Hindu reported.
Almost 2.7 lakh Indian doctors had protested against the bill across the country on November 15, 2016.
The Medical Council of India was marred with allegations of corruption, and former Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had publicly said it is corrupt and requires reforms. In 2010, the Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested the former president of the council, Dr Ketan Desai, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore from a medical college in Punjab.
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