HELP STEM ROT IN MEDICAL SYSTEM
The sudden arrest of Ketan Desai, the President of Medical Council of India really was no surprise to anyone. What actually was surprising was why the CBI took so long to arrest this man. Desai, right from 2001, when he was caught taking bribe of 65 lacs was found guilty by the Delhi High Court. It was the CBI which let Desai off then. Over the years information had been pouring in from all over to the CBI against Desai. To give this devil his due Desai successfully stopped all enquires against him using his clout, his friends and protectives who he had been nurturing obviously with some of the bribe money that he collected.
Many times this MCI Chief got his whistle blowers suspended. He was a friend to Politicians across party lines whom he regularly helped. His office had CCTV cameras all over and turned it into a virtual fortress. He had got all the powers to approve new medical colleges’ through a set of inspectors who had become only his men. Desai had everyone on his payroll. Luckily, the Health Minister has taken a serious view immediately and set up a team to probe corruption in MCI.
The Health Ministers opinion now is that, clearly the provisions of the India Medical Council Act, 1956 are inadequate to ensure transparent, healthy and constructive decision making within the Council. The law governing the MCI was more than five decades old and the latest attempt to amend it failed following “adverse comments” by the Parliamentary standing committee. The Minister is urging members to revisit this issue. Pushing the reform agenda, Azad also wants the recent events for further reforms in matters relating medical education in the country.
Under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, the President cannot be removed even if convicted. In effect, the Act would allow Mr. Ketan Desai to get out of jail on bail and walk straight into his office in the MCI and there is nothing that the government can do. Azad’s Ministry had referred the Desai case to the law Ministry .The law Ministry will deal with as per the law. This means that the Health Ministry will not be able to remove Mr. Desai from the post of President of MCI. So, the Government has now pinned its hopes on a proposed overarching body to regulate all genres of medical education in the country. Its hands are tied because a standing committee of Parliament has rejected amendments to the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 that the Government holds critical. The Government expects the new body - National Council for Human Resources in Health, announced in the President’s address last June - to help stem the rot in the system. The amendments that the Government had proposed dealt with issues such as limiting the tenures of MCI President and Vice-President to two terms, according the Centre the power to dissolve the Council’s executive committee and remove its President and enabling the Government to issue directions to the Council.
Azad wants an over arching body not only for the MCI, but for the Dental Council, for Ayurveda, for nursing and for our paramedical staff. Consultations are on with the state governments on the proposed National Council for Human Resources on Health Bill, which provides for an over-arching body. Once this body comes into being, it will take care of everything existing bodies will be subsumed in that. Then I don’t think there will be any role of small subvertible regulatory organizations. The MPs should support the new law for fixing the tenure of MCI President and Vice-President and empowering the government to act firmly. Azad has tried very hard to keep corruption out ever since he has taken over.
No comments:
Post a Comment