Hyderabad doctors protest over ‘contentious issues’ in NMC Bill; claim it would compromise the health of Indians

Hyderabad: Junior doctors in Hyderabad staged protest opposing the passage of the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill by both Houses of Parliament, citing “contentious issues”. The doctors of Hyderabad-based Gandhi hospital expressed displeasure on the passage of the NMC Bill, claiming that the health of citizens across the country would be compromised because of the new law. [caption id=“attachment_7100061” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Doctors in Hyderabad protesting against the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill. ANI[/caption] Speaking to ANI, chief secretary of junior doctors association, Gandhi hospital, Dr Arjun said, “There are contentious issues regarding NMC Bill. Clause number 32 gives license to around 3.40 lakh people to practice limited modern medicine. No one is clear with what limited medicine is and who all are going to be given licenses”. Calling it “hypocrisy” by the central government, he continued, “A person studies MBBS for over five years and then you are going to test them with another exam. This shows the hypocrisy of the government. We condemn this to the greatest extent. We are going to continue our strike”. Echoing similar sentiments, Dr Hemanth, an agitator said, “The discussion was held in the Rajya Sabha and finally a bill was passed. This is not a democratic way to pass a bill because the NMC Bill is killing modern medicine by giving license to unauthorised persons to practice modern medicine. This is going to be dangerous to the public and medical fraternity. We strongly condemn this Bill and demand that clause number 32 should be removed from the Bill. We will take necessary action after discussing with the central committee to remove the mentioned clause”. The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) will continue their 24-hour nation-wide strike on Friday in protest against the passage of the National Medical Commission Bill. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences Patna and Delhi and United Resident Doctors’ Association (URDA) have also given a call for strike against the Bill. Doctors have been raising their voices against sections 32 and 15 of the Bill pertaining to licence to health providers and the entrance exam for post-graduate course/NEXT. They have also been raising concerns over section 45 of the Bill, and claim the Bill empowers the central government to override any suggestion of the NMC. The Rajya Sabha on Thursday approved the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, 2019 by a voice vote with Health Minister Harsh Vardhan saying the Bill will go down in history as the biggest reform of the Narendra Modi government. The NMC Bill will replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) by a National Medical Commission. It will decrease the representation of elected members from 75 per cent in MCI to 20 per cent in NMC.