New Delhi: The National Medical Commission (NMC), in place of the Medical Council of India (MCI), for development and regulation of all aspects of Medical Education and Profession, has been constituted and came into existence from yesterday, a gazette notification said. With NMC coming into being, the Board of Governors (BoG), which superseded the MCI on Sept. 26, 2018, to perform its functions, will get dissolved and the nearly 64-year-old Indian Medical Council Act will stand abolished.

The former head of Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) ENT Department, Dr. Suresh Chandra Sharma has been appointed Chairman for a period of three years with effect from Sept. 25 while Rakesh Kumar Vats, the Secretary-General in the Board of Governors of the MCI, presently, would be the Secretary of the Commission.

The four autonomous boards under the NMC Act — the Under-Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), Post-Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), Medical Assessment and Rating Board and the Ethics and Medical Registration Board — have also been constituted, according to the notifications issued by Nipun Vinayak, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health on Thursday.

“In pursuance of the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 60 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 is hereby repealed with effect from the 25th day of September 2020. The Board of Governors appointed under section 3A of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 in supersession of the Medical Council of India constituted under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the said Act shall stand dissolved,” one of the notifications read. The NMC comprises a Chairman, 10 ex-officio members and 22 part-time members. The ex-officio members include Presidents of the four autonomous Boards.

“In pursuance of the provisions…of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, the Central Government hereby constitutes the National Medical Commission,” another notification read. “Now, therefore, in the exercise of the powers… the Central Government hereby notifies that all the remaining provisions of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, shall come into force with effect from the 25th day of September 2020,” another one read.

Dr. Sharma, was on Jan.2, appointed the Chairman of the NMC, the new medical education regulator after the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved his appointment.

“Under sub-section (2) of section 4, the Chairperson of the National Medical Commission (Dr. Suresh Chandra Sharma) is appointed for a period of three years with effect from the 25th day of September,” according to a notification. Also, Rakesh Kumar Vats, the Secretary-General in the Board of Governors of the MCI was appointed as the Secretary of the Commission for a similar term on Jan. 2.

The NMC Act, which seeks to usher in mega reforms in the Medical Education sector, received the assent of the President on Aug. 8 and was published the same day. 

The Act provided for setting up of an NMC in place of the scam-tainted MCI.