Three autonomous bodies that regulate staff in the field of medicine (doctors, dentists and nurses) are in a dysfunctional state, has revealed the response to a right to consultation of information.
He Ministry of HealthThe consultation response confirmed that the four autonomous boards of the National Medical Commission That approached of undergraduate education, postgraduate education, ethics and registration, and the evaluation and qualification of medical universities are totally vacancies, except for the position of president of the PG Medical Education Board. These have been vacancies for more than four months, although the Ministry was supposed to initiate the process of filling the vacancies six months before the end of the possession of the previous members so that the positions are not vacant.
The Indian Dental Commission had to be replaced by a recently constituted national dental commission, after the National Dental Commission The law was approved in August 2023. A year and a half later, the Council has no head and, although it is supposed to be an autonomous body, it is now led by the Director General of Health Services of the Ministry of Health. The DGHS is a former member of the DCI and a member of its Executive Committee until the new commission is constituted. The order of the Ministry with respect to DGHS as an interim president declared that “the Constitution of the National Dental Commission is in an advanced state and will be completed shortly.”
In the same way, the Indian Nursing Council It should be replaced by the National Nursing and Later Commission, so the law was also approved in August 2023. The new law should improve professional behavior and guarantee greater transparency and responsibility with an online registry and live of all nurses in India. However, the Indian Nursing Council continues to function with Dileep Kumar, who has held the position for more than two decades, as president.
The National Digital Health Mission provides for several digital records, including one for health facilities and another for health professionals, including doctors, dentists, nurses, etc. However, the autonomous organs that are supposed to update and maintain these records, which are also destined to regulate these professions, are in ruins.
“The autonomy of these bodies has become a joke. They are functioning as subordinate departments of the Ministry of Health of the Union and are plagued by ad hocism and total lack of transparency, ”said a former DCI member who did not want to be appointed.