Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has come under criticism from his own colleagues in the Congress for his “proposal of transferring medical education” from the Health Ministry to the proposed National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER).
The task force which is finalising the regulatory commission has been constituted by the HRD Ministry.
Mr. Sibal wants to create a new national body to control and supervise the departments of higher and technical education. Surprisingly, he has shown interest in bringing medical education also within the ambit of this body, Vijay Khaira, AICC member and national convener of the AICC (doctors' cell) has said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The HRD Ministry's proposal is baseless as it cannot run the health care system, which is an integral part of the Health Ministry and without which medical education is incomplete.
If one or two persons are corrupt, the entire Medical Council of India or the entire Medical Education department cannot be blamed or transferred to the HRD Ministry, Dr. Khaira has said.
Even the All-India Council for Technical Education chief and other functionaries have been allegedly found involved in corruption.
How can the HRD Minister guarantee that the body he is constituting would be outrightly honest?
In the “interest of patients, health care delivery system and medical education itself,” Dr. Khaira has requested the Prime Minister not to transfer medical education to any other ministry.
