After MCI, Niti Aayog to work on restructuring of UGC, AICTE

Government think tank Niti Aayog, which is at present working on restricting the Medical Council of India (MCI), has also been entrusted with the task of preparing a similar road map for the UGC and the AICTE.
A committee headed by the Vice Chairman of the Aayog, Arvind Panagariya, is working on restructuring of the MCI in view of the poor regulation of medical education by the body.
"Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has directed Niti Aayog to also work on restructuring the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) as well a board looking after Homeopathy and Ayurvedic education in the country," a senior government official said.

This is on the same lines as that of the restructuring strategy for the MCI, he added.
"The general consensus is that these organisation are needed to be made more relevant to the changing times today. Also it is felt that there is a need to make them more performance-oriented so that the quality of education also improves," the official said.
On MCI, the panel has firmed up the view that the MCI should be scrapped to increase the number of medical colleges in the country for producing more doctors in view of growing demand for healthcare services, another official source said.

Besides, Panagariya, Prime Minister's additional Principal Secretary P K Mishra, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Union Health Secretary are also on board of the committee to look into the issue of poor regulation of medical education by MCI.

The committee has proposed to set up an altogether new body with three pronged approach - career, enterprise and ethics.
Earlier this year, a Parliamentary committee had called for revamping the MCI saying, it has failed in its role as a regulator which has led to a downfall in India's medical education system.
The committee even asked the government to exercise its constitutional authority and take decisive action to restructure and revamp the regulatory system of medical education and practice.