Doctors' stir ends after NMC Bill sent to parliamentary panel

Agencies
January 2, 2018

New Delhi, Jan 2: The 12-hour nation-wide stir called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to protest a proposed legislation seeking to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a new body, was called off on Tuesday after the Bill was referred to a parliamentary standing committee.

The committee has been asked to give its report before the Budget session.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, which was tabled in Parliament on Friday, seeks to replace the MCI and also proposes allowing practitioners of alternative medicines, such as homoeopathy and ayurveda, practise allopathy after completing a "bridge course".

"We called off our strike as the Bill has been referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee which has members from diverse fields and there should now be a fruitful discussion. We are thankful to all the Lok Sabha members for supporting us," IMA's K K Aggarwal, who was spearheading the stir, said.

The strike called by the IMA went on for around eight hours today.

The Bill was referred to the committee following protest from the opposition parties as well as doctors.

The IMA has been strongly opposing the NMC Bill saying it will "cripple" the functioning of medical professionals by making them completely answerable to the bureaucracy and non- medical administrators, and has declared today as a "Black Day".

Earlier in the day, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said in Parliament that talks were on with the IMA to clear their doubts.

"Talks are on. We have heard them (the doctors) and also presented our views," he said.

"This (Bill) is beneficial to the medical profession," Nadda said in the Rajya Sabha after the members raised the issue of strike by the doctors across the country.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had written to Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and the Union health minister demanding that the Bill be referred to a standing committee for examination.

"The NMC Bill in the present form is not acceptable. This Bill is anti-poor, anti-people, non representative, undemocratic and anti-federal in character," newly-appointed IMA national president Dr Ravi Wankhedkar.

IMA has already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union health minister urging them to redraft the Bill and rectify some of its provisions to protect the interest of medical practitioners.

It claimed that the provision in the Bill which allows AYUSH graduates to practise modern medicineafter completing a bridge course will promote quackery.

The NMC bill proposes replacing the Medical Council of India with a new body and "possibly" Section 15 of the IMC Act, which says that the basic qualification to practise modern medicine is MBBS, Dr Aggarwal, the former president of the IMA, had said.

"It (the bill) takes away the right of every doctor in India to elect their medical council," he had said.

Dr Aggarwal had further said the Bill, in its current form, allows private medical colleges to charge at will, nullifying whatever solace the NEET brought.

Dr Wankhedkar had said, "The Bill purported to eradicate corruption is designed to open the floodgates of corruption. A Bill to regulate the medical education and medical practice without the concurrence of the medical profession will be a disaster."

Clause 49 of the Bill calls for a joint sitting of the National Medical Commission, the Central Council of Homoeopathy and the Central Council of Indian Medicine at least once a year "to enhance the interface between homoeopathy, Indian Systems of Medicine and modern systems of medicine".

The Bill proposes constitution of four autonomous boards entrusted with conducting undergraduate and postgraduate education, assessment and rating of medical institutions and registration of practitioners under the National Medical Commission.

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News Network
February 9,2020

New Delhi, Feb 9: Calling India a "long-standing friend", Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for visiting his country in the aftermath of last year's Easter Sunday terror attacks and outlined that New Delhi has always helped Colombo in its fight against terrorism.

In a joint press briefing with PM Modi, Mahinda Rajapaksa said he hopes that India will continue to help Sri Lanka fight terrorism.

Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed his gratitude to PM Modi for the neighbourhood first policy and the priority India gives to Sri Lanka.

"We had agreed that our cooperation is multifaceted and priority is given to a number of areas including security, economy, culture and social sectors. Part of our discussions centered on cooperation with regard to the security of the two countries. India has always assisted Sri Lanka to enhance our capacity, capabilities in intelligence and counter-terrorism. We look forward to getting continued support in this regard," he said.

"I thank the Prime Minister for visiting Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terror attacks that provided us with immense strength to come to terms with the tragedy. We also appreciate Prime Minister Modi's $400 million line of credit to enhance the economy of Sri Lanka and another $50 million line of credit for fighting terrorism," he added.

The Sri Lankan president urged PM Modi to consider further assistance to expand housing projectS all over Sri Lanka to benefit people from rural areas.

"The Prime Minister and I discussed how Sri Lanka and India can work together in the field of economy. India is among the world's fastest growing economies. I discussed with PM Modi how Sri Lanka could benefit from certain economic sectors where India is in a strong position," he said.

Concluding his statement, Mahinda Rajapaksa said, "India is our closest neighbour and a long-standing friend. The close historical links...provided a solid foundation to our ties."

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News Network
March 30,2020

New Delhi, Mar 30: The number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,071 in India on Monday, while the death toll rose to 29, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 942, while 99 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated, the ministry stated.

In its updated data at 10.30 am, it said two fresh deaths were reported from Maharashtra.

Thus, Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of eight COVID-19 deaths so far, followed by Gujarat (5), Karnataka (3), Madhya Pradesh (2), Delhi (2) and Jammu and Kashmir (2).

Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have reported a death each.

The total number of 1,071 cases includes 49 foreigners.

The highest number of confirmed cases of the pandemic has been reported from Kerala (194) so far, followed by Maharashtra at 193.

The number of cases has gone up to 80 in Karnataka, while Uttar Pradesh has reported 75 cases.

The number of cases has risen to 69 in Telangana, 58 in Gujarat and 57 in Rajasthan.

Delhi has reported 53 cases, while in Tamil Nadu, the number of positive cases is 50.

Punjab has reported 38 cases, while 33 COVID-19 cases have been detected each in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

There are 31 cases of the contagion in Jammu and Kashmir, followed by Andhra Pradesh (19), West Bengal (19) and Ladakh (13).

Bihar has 11 cases, while nine cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Chandigarh has eight cases, while Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand have reported seven cases each.

Goa has reported five coronavirus cases, while Himachal Pradesh and Odisha have reported three cases each. Puducherry, Mizoram and Manipur have reported a case each, the Health Ministry said.

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News Network
February 3,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 3: India's manufacturing activity expanded at its quickest pace in nearly eight years in January with robust growth in new orders and output, a private survey showed on Monday, suggesting the economy may be getting back on firmer footing.

In response to the jump in sales, factories hired new workers at the fastest rate in more than seven years.

If sustained, the improvement in business conditions could point to a gradual economic recovery in coming months, as forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll last month, after growth slowed to a more than six-year low in the July-September quarter.

The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index , compiled by IHS Markit, jumped to 55.3 last month from 52.7 in December. It was the highest reading since February 2012 and above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for the 30th straight month.

"The PMI results show that a notable rebound in demand boosted growth of sales, input buying, production and employment as firms focused on rebuilding their inventories and expanding their capacities in anticipation of further increases in new business," Pollyanna De Lima, principal economist at IHS Markit, said in a news release.

A new orders sub-index that tracks overall demand hit its highest level since December 2014 and output grew at its fastest pace in over seven and a half years, pushing manufacturers to hire at the strongest rate since August 2012.

Meanwhile, both input costs and output prices rose at a slower pace, indicating overall inflation may have eased after hitting a more than five year high of 7.35% in December, although probably not below the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4%.

That might keep the central bank, which cut its key interest rate by a cumulative 135 basis points last year, on the sidelines over the coming months.

"To complete the good news, there was also an uptick in business confidence as survey participants expect buoyant demand, new client wins, advertising and product diversification to boost output in the year ahead," added De Lima.

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