IMA calls for 24-hour withdrawal of non-essential services against passage of NMC bill in LS

Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Tuesday called for 24 hours withdrawal of non-essential services across the nation from 6 am tomorrow in protest against the passage of National Medical Commission Bill, 2019 in Lok Sabha.

Earlier, Doctors had staged a protest outside All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Monday over National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill.

The Lok Sabha on Monday passed a bill that seeks to create National Medical Commission in place of Medical Council of India (MCI) with Health Minister Harsh Vardhan terming it as an "anti-vested interests Bill" which will be remembered as one of the greatest reforms brought by the Modi government.

The National Medical Commission Bill, 2019, was passed following a division even as the minister had appealed for its unanimous passage.

The Bill was passed with 260 members voting in its favour and 48 against it. The amendments moved by the Opposition were negatived.

The Bill provides that the common final year MBBS exam be known as National Exit Test (NEXT) which would serve as a licentiate exam for entrance to post-graduate medical courses and as a screening test for foreign medical graduates.

It also provides that the national entrance test, i.e. NEET, common counselling and NEXT shall also be applicable to Institutes of National Importance (INIs) like AIIMS to have common standards in the country.

The Bill provides that the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) will conduct an assessment of medical colleges and develop a system of ranking them which would enable students to choose medical colleges wisely. It provides for the repeal of the Indian Medical Council Act 1956.

The Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) will issue ratings to medical colleges according to their performance.