National Medical Commission: Guidelines in Medical Admission for the Disabled

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• National Medical Commission (About, organisational structure)
• The Existing Guidelines of NMC
• Recommendations of the Panel
• Inclusive Recommendations
• What are the Concerns?

 

Why in News?

• The National Medical Commission (NMC) is currently developing new guidelines that will be used to determine whether candidates with disabilities can enroll in medical programs and if they can avail benefit of quotas.
• A 16-member expert panel was set up after the Delhi High Court directed the NMC to explore the possibility of candidates with disability pursuing some disciplines (if not all) of medical education.

 

National Medical Commission (NMC):

• About the NMC:
  • The NMC is a statutory body constituted (in 2020) by an act of Parliament known as the National Medical Commission Act, 2019.
  • It regulates medical education and medical professionals in India and has replaced the Medical Council of India (MCI, constituted under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956).
• Organisational structure of NMC:
  • Medical Advisory Council:  It provides the platform through which the states or UTs can put forth their views and concerns before the NMC and advises the NMC on measures to determine and maintain minimum standards of medical education.
  • Four autonomous boards:
    • Under-Graduate Medical Education Board (sets norms for undergraduate (UG) courses),
    • Post-Graduate Medical Education Board (sets norms for post-graduate courses),
    • Medical Assessment and Rating Board (inspects and rates the medical education institutes), and
    • Ethics and Medical Registration Board (regulates professional conduct of the doctors and registers them).

 

The Existing Guidelines of NMC

• It says that anyone with more than 40% disability will be eligible for medical course and quota if their disability can be brought below the 40% mark with aids.

 

Recommendations of the Panel:

• It ranges from a -
  • “Progressive outlook” for those with mental illness - suggesting that anyone who can complete all course requirements be allowed to study medicine
  • To “extremely restrictive” requirements for locomotor disabilities, suggesting wheelchair-bound people or those using two crutches be disqualified.

 

Inclusive Recommendations:

• The panel recommended that everyone should be allowed to pursue a medical course, and those with a disability of more than 40% be allowed to compete for the 5% seats under the quota for persons with disabilities.
• When it comes to locomotor disabilities - disability of bones, joints or muscles that restrict the movement of limbs - the committee suggested that students will be allowed if they are able to perform activities.
• These recommendations are in line with disability guidelines that are followed in countries such as the UK.

 

What are the Concerns?

• Despite the mandate, much of the recommendations do not talk of advancements in assistive devices or treatments. 
• Lack of objective method to establish that disability is equal to or more than 40%.

 

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Source: Guidelines in medical admission for the disabled: from progressive to restrictive