The National Medical Commission (NMC), which would replace the Medical Council of India as the country’s medical education regulator, has come into force from Friday.

A gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday also appointed Suresh Chandra Sharma, former head of ENT department at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, as the Chairperson of the 33-member NMC.

Provisions of NMC Act

Another gazette notification said all provisions of the NMC Act, 2019 will come into force from Friday. This includes fee regulation on 50 per cent seats in private medical colleges and deemed universities and commencement of a new National Exit Test, which would not only give MBBS graduates licence to practice, but entrance exam for PG courses and the test for foreign medical graduates who will wish to practise in India.

The government also separately notified the appointments of Presidents of Under-Graduate Medical Education Board, Post-Graduate Medical Education Board, Medical Assessment and Rating Board and Ethics and Medical Registration Board. It also notified the names of members to these boards.

While Dr Aruna V Vanikar of the Ahmedabad-based Institute of Kidney disease and Research Centre is the head of undergraduate education board, the postgraduate board is headed Dr M K Ramesh of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Centre. Medical assessment would be presided over by Dr Achal Gulati of Baba Ambedkar Medical College Delhi whereas the ethics board is headed by Dr B N Gangadhar, the Director of NIMHANS, Bengaluru.

Apart from these four board presidents, Director Generals of Health Services and Indian Council of Medical Research as well as directors of PGI Chandigarh and Tata Memorial Hospital Mumbai are among ex-officio members of the NMC. The Commission will also have a number of part-time members with four-, three- and two-year terms.

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