The Prime Minister’s Office has put its foot down on the proposal of scrapping the medical and dental education regulators of the country, saying there is a need for wider consultations before reaching any conclusion.
The Health Ministry had proposed to scrap the Medical Council of India (MCI) and Dental Council of India (DCI), citing alleged corruption in these regulatory bodies.
The proposal was sent to the Prime Minister’s Office for listing it before the Cabinet so that a necessary amendment could be moved in the next session of Parliament.
The PMO, however, rejected the proposal, saying there was no surety that the new body replacing MCI and DCI would not develop shortcomings as of the present regulators, an official said.
It has asked the ministry to consult more experts on the issue and devise a plan to cleanse the existing system rather than replacing it, sources in the ministry said.
The Health Minister has been receiving repeated complaints about the working of the medical and dental education regulators and widespread corruption in it.
A task force of the minister had suggested to scrap various regulators of the medical education, including medical Council of India, Dental Council of India, Pharmacy Council and the Nursing Council, sources said.
.
