Hundreds of medical students staged a sit-in protest in front of the out-patient department at the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital at Adukkamparai on Wednesday to express their solidarity in opposing the passing of National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill 2019.
Compulsory test
According to a third year student, the Bill proposes a compulsory National Exit Test (NEXT), after completing the MBBS course. This ismanditory to get admission to postgraduate medical courses and for obtaining license to practice medicine, she said.
It is unfair and unjustifiable decision to ask us to write another entrance test after taking up a four year MBBS course, which is marked by practical examinations and written exams, she added.
Doctors and students from various hospitals and colleges protested here on last Monday alleging that the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill will only dilute the health department manual, which manages advanced medical services to rural India across the country.
Another participant said that the NMC Bill silently legalised quackery by empowering community health providers to practice medicine and this would endanger the lives of people in rural areas.
Continued protests
The agitations would continue until we receive a favourable decision by the Union Government in this regard, said a second year student from GMC in Vellore.
