MCI reconstituted with 68 members

Government today reconstituted the Medical Council of India (MCI) with 68 members elected or nominated from various states and universities and disbanded its seven-member Board of Governors appointed by it in May.
This paves the way for an elected body of the apex medical education regulator and it will now hold elections to the posts of president, vice president and nine members of the Executive Council and three members of the Post-Graduate Committee.
The elected MCI body comes into effect as per the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2013, and it will be in place for the next four years.

The previous elected MCI headed by Ketan Desai was embroiled in controversies of alleged corrupt practices. Desai was arrested by CBI for allegedly accepting a bribe. The government then disbanded the elected body and put in place a seven-member Board of Governors to run the Council.
Of the total 68 members, 23 have been nominated by the central government in consultation with states while one has been nominated by the Centre representing the UT Administration of Daman & Diu.
Besides, 29 members represent the universities/health sciences universities and another seven members represent the registered medical graduates of states and another eight members are nominated by the central government.

The Council will finally have 130 members, as names of those elected by various universities are yet to come as some elections are yet to take place.

Desai is set to return in the new elected body, as his name has already been nominated by Gujarat University.
Universities can elect a member to the MCI for every 10 medical colleges under it.
The MCI is a statutory body with the responsibility of establishing and maintaining high standards of medical education and recognition of medical qualifications in India.