Government selects 25 members of National Medical Commission

Union health ministry on Monday finalized 25 members of the recently constituted National Medical Commission (NMC).

For selecting members of the commission, that replaces the Medical Council of India (MCI), health ministry held a draw of lots. The members include 10 Vice-Chancellors (VCs) from different states, nine members from the State Medical Councils (SMCs) and four part-time members from the autonomous boards.

The draw of lot was held from the nominations sent by the state governments, union territories and state medical councils.

“The work on NMC is being done one time. We had nine months to select the members of the NMC, and within a short span of two months, we have framed the rules, notified them and also carried out the process of selection of the part-time members of the NMC,” said Harsh Vardhan, union health minister.

The 10 VCs were selected from Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Dagar and Nagar Haveli, Punjab, and Haryana. “To ensure probity and integrity of the highest order, a compact body is being selected through a transparent mechanism and representation of States and State Councils in rotation. This will facilitate for faster decision making also,” he said.

The government also chose four members, who will serve as part-time members, from the autonomous boards - Undergraduate (UG), Post Graduate (PG), Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) and Ethics and Registration Board. They were selected from Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, and Madhya Pradesh.

Further, nine representatives were also chosen from State Medical Council (SMCs) namely--Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Kerala, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Manipur.

The health ministry also said that other NMC members include one senior officer of Additional Secretary rank, one Director from any AIIMS and any two directors would be selected from the PGIMER, Chandigarh, JIGMER, Puducherry, Tata Memorial Hospital, North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong and All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health (AIIHPH), Kolkata.

The National Medical Commission Act, 2019 received assent of the President on 08th August, 2019 and was published in the official Gazette on the same day. The Central Government sought nominations from the States / UTs and State Medical Councils (SMCs) for constitution of the Medical Advisory Council under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019.