The Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) has issued a circular to doctors across the state, asking them to submit their Aadhaar details. The circular comes in the backdrop of a similar notification issued by the Medical Council of India (MCI) to all sate councils in the country.

Around 1.4 lakh doctors registered in Maharashtra will now have to provide their Aadhaar information. Officials with the MMC, which registers doctors, said that the linking of Aadhaar with their database would help keep track of doctors practising in multiple states and of doctors whose licences have been suspended for ethical reasons.

The linking of Aadhaar data will also help keep track of medical teachers who are registered in one state but have been listed as faculty in medical colleges of other states. “We came across this issue previously, where doctors registered in Maharashtra colleges as full-time professors were also listed as professors in other state medical colleges. It is impossible for them to simultaneously teach in different states as full-time faculty.

Aadhaar data will help state medical councils know if doctors are indulging in such practices,” an MMC official said.

Even in cases where a doctor’s licence is suspended or cancelled in one state, Aadhaar data could help other states know about the suspension and act accordingly.

Close to 3,500 doctors from across Maharashtra have already linked their Aadhaar data with the MMC in January. The notification, dated December 14, 2017, said that linking Aadhaar information was necessary “in view of steps taken by the Medical Council of India, under Digital Mission Mode Project”.

“I am yet to provide Aadhaar details for linking. So far, we do not feel this will be a threat to our information’s security in any way. Only our licence number will be attached with Aadhaar data,” said Dr Sudhir Naik, who is a part of the Association of Medical Consultants.

Dr B K Goyal, head of cardiology at Bombay Hospital, who is also yet to link his Aadhaar card, said that there was no “perception of threat to information” if they link the data. “There is no confidential information about doctors stored with the MMC to worry about data leak,” he said.

The MCI also announced a digitisation programme in which all faculties of medical colleges will be registered on an online database, with their Aadhaar information linked, to have biometric verification.

The Union cabinet in December 2017 cleared the Bill that seeks to replace MCI with a national medical commission. The draft Bill relaxes norms for increasing seats in medical colleges and renewal of licences.

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