india

Updated: Jul 02, 2019 23:49 IST

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday cleared the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which will replace an ordinance promulgated on February 21 that lapsed with the sixteenth Lok Sabha.

The bill aims at ushering in transparency, accountability and quality in the governance of medical education in the country and provides for the supersession of the Medical Council of India (MCI) for two years with effect from September 26,

2018.

According to the new bill, during this period, the board of governors will exercise the powers and functions of the MCI as assigned under the IMC Act, 1956.

It also proposes to increase the number of members on the board of governors from seven to twelve.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said the bill was the need of the hour. “In the last two decades, a perception was built that the Medical Council of India has failed in its responsibilities and has become a hub of corruption and corrupt practices,” he said.

He noted that the board of governors had increased the number of medical seats by a record 15,000 in eight months and that the number of government colleges had gone up vis a vis private ones.

The government also introduced the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Bill, 2019 in the Upper House on Tuesday. Some members took part in the discussion on the bill and the debate will continue on Wednesday.

The bill seeks to fill up more than 7,000 vacancies in institutions of higher education by direct recruitment in accordance with a new quota system. The system accords reservation to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and the socially and educationally backward classes.