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Medical Council of India

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Abbreviation
  
MCI

Headquarters
  
New Delhi

Formation
  
1933

Main organ
  
Council

Leader
  
Dr. Jayshreeben Mehta, President

Affiliations
  
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

The Medical Council of India (MCI) is a statutory body for establishing uniform and high standards of medical education in India. The Council grants recognition of medical qualifications, gives accreditation to medical schools, grants registration to medical practitioners, and monitors medical practice in India. The current President of MCI is Dr. Jayshreeben Mehta.

Contents

The NITI Aayog has recommended the replacement of Medical Council of India (MCI) with National Medical Commission (NMC). The decision has been approved by most states and after its approval by the Prime Minister it will be proposed as final bill in the upcoming parliamentary sessions.

History

The Medical Council of India was first established in 1934 under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1933. The Council was later reconstituted under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 that replaced the earlier Act.

Following this, the Council was superseded by the President of India and its functions entrusted to a Board of Governors. The present Board of Governors was notified on 13 May 2011.

Again vide Govt. of India notification, the Council re-constituted and functioning currently

Functions of the council

The main functions of the Medical Council of India are the following:

  • Establishment and maintenance of uniform standards for undergraduate medical education.
  • Regulation of postgraduate medical education in medical colleges accredited by it. (The National Board of Examinations is another statutory body for postgraduate medical education in India).
  • Recognition of medical qualifications granted by medical institutions in India.
  • Recognition of foreign medical qualifications in India.
  • Accreditation of medical colleges.
  • Registration of doctors with recognized medical qualifications.
  • Keeping a directory of all registered doctors (called the Indian Medical Register).

    • Registration of doctors and their qualifications is usually done by state medical councils.

    Controversy

    The MCI was dissolved by the President of India on 15 May 2010 following the arrest of MCI's president Ketan Desai by the CBI on 22 April 2010. Desai, alleged middle-man J. P. Singh and doctors Sukhwinder Singh and Kanwaljit Singh have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI recovered 1.5 kg of gold and 80 kg of silver from Desai's premises. Further, gold worth ₨ 35 lakhs were recovered from Desai's bank lockers in Ahmedabad. Ketan Desai, the head of urology at B J Medical College and president of the Gujarat Medical Council was caught by the CBI for accepting a bribe of 2 crores to grant recognition to a private college. He was immediately removed from the Medical council and his registration cancelled.

    The council was revamped in 2013 and the current President of MCI, Dr.Jayshreeben Mehta was elected unanimously. She became the first woman president of MCI in 80 years since the council came into being.

    MCI Online

    "MCI Online" is the portal of the Medical Council of India for online processing of applications for registration (of medical qualifications) and for professional certificates. "MCI Online" also provides online search of the Indian Medical Register.

    Awards

  • Dr. B. C. Roy Awards: Dr. B.C. Roy National Award Fund was instituted in 1962 to perpetuate his memory. The Award is presented to distinguished medical person in each of the categories of Statesmanship of the Highest Order in our country, Medical man-cum-Statesman, Eminent Medical Person, Eminent person in Philosophy and Eminent person in Arts.
  • Hari Om Ashram Award: Hari Om Ashram Alembic Research Award Fund has decided to invite the nomination for Hari Om Ashram Alembic Research Awards under the categories of Basic Research in Medical Sciences, Clinical Research and Operational Research.
  • Silver Jubilee Award: Silver Jubilee Research Award Fund was given under the categories to give award to person for his original and outstanding work in the field of medical and allied science done in India, to give aid or assistance to project in medical colleges/medical institutions/organisations engaged in the development of medical education and to help medical research and to Grant Travel Fellowship.

    • References

    Medical Council of India Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA