The National Medical Commission (NMC) and its Under-Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) have been accused of ignoring the public comments they received on the draft regulations related to Compulsory Rotating Internship of undergraduate medical students.
In a complaint to the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Kannur-based ophthalmologist K.V. Babu said the draft regulations dated April 21, 2021, were put on public domain on July 7. Dr. Babu submitted his comments related to Clause 6.3, which deals with the stipend for interns, on July 24.
One of his suggestions was to change the clause as “All the candidates pursuing compulsory rotating internship at the institution from which MBBS course was completed, shall be paid stipend on par with the stipend being paid to the interns of the State Government Medical Institution/Central Government Medical Institution in the State/Union Territory where the institution is located.”
The regulations were, however, gazetted on November 18, without including the above comments. When Dr. Babu filed a query under the Right to Information Act on April 12 this year asking if the NMC had received his comments, he was given a reply on April 29 confirming that two comments had been received. He filed another plea on April 24 seeking details on all the comments received on the clause. The NMC replied that Dr. Babu’s were the only comments received on the issue. “They also informed me that 11 comments had been received on other clauses in the draft regulations. They have been included in the final notification as well. If the government fails to add my comments, I reserve my right to subject the above gazette notification to legal scrutiny,” said Dr. Babu. In his mail to the Health Minister, Dr. Babu urged the government to withdraw the gazette notification and reissue it after incorporating the comments that he had sent.
