Members of Tamil Nadu Government Doctors’ Association (TNGDA), Indian Medical Association (Madurai branch) and medical students formed a human chain here on Tuesday against the proposal for a national exit test (NEXT) and formation of a National Medical Commission after doing away with Medical Council of India (MCI).
In its Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, the Union government had proposed a uniform examination across the country for MBBS graduates to be eligible to register for practice and to join postgraduate courses. Protesters said that the proposal was unfair to the students, who already undergo multiple examinations as part of their curriculum to get their degrees. “Our examinations and syllabus are recognised by the government. If there is a need for another examination, is the government undermining its own system,” questioned U.K. Kandha Kumar, students’ council president of Madurai Medical College.
P. Jayakumar, a postgraduate student at MMC, said that NEXT was unjustified.
Criticising government’s move to allow Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) doctors to practise allopathy in certain circumstances, Mr. Jayakumar said, “On the one hand, government is producing ‘qualified quacks.’ On the other, it wants to filter qualified doctors, when there is already a huge shortage of doctors.”
K. Senthil, President, TNGDA, said that the proposal would be a severe blow to the quality of medical profession as it would benefit privatisation of medical education and centralisation of regulatory powers with politicians and bureaucrats with no say for doctors.
C. Balasubramanian, president, IMA Madurai branch, and R.V.S. Surendran, member, Tamil Nadu Medical Council, also participated in the protest.
