Medical Council of India, which is responsible for maintaining uniform standards of both undergraduate and postgraduate studies of medicine in India, was established under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1933 in the year 1934. However, in order to meet the new challenges of medical education in India, the earlier act was repealed and a new Indian medical Council Act 1956 was enacted. It has been modified in 1964, 1993 and 2001 since then. Thus the primary responsibilities of the Medical Council of India are to maintain the uniform standards of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, recognition of the medical institutions in our country or abroad, permanent or provisional registration of the qualified doctors and reciprocality with foreign countries in case of mutual recognition of medical qualifications.
Constitution of Medical Council of India
Under Section 3(1) of Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, Medical Council of India contains following members- one member from every state having the nomination by the Central Government, one member elected by the Senate of University who is one of the members of University’s medical faculty, one member from every state of India where the State Medical Register is maintained. The members should be elected by persons inscribed in the medical register. They should have the medical qualifications included in Part-II of the Third Schedule or in the First and Second Schedule. There are 7 members having the medical qualifications included in Part I of the Third Schedule. There are 8 members that are nominated by the Central Government. The President and Vice-President are elected by the members of Council from amongst themselves.
Functions of Medical Council of India
The Medical Council of India performs various important functions including maintenance of standards of medical education in India, offering permission to start new medical colleges, some new courses and increasing number of seats in the colleges, recognition and de-recognition of Indian and Foreign qualifications, maintenance of All India Medical Register, permanent and provisional registration of qualified doctors, registration of additional qualifications etc. |
