NMC board vacant as it directs states to deal with teacher vacancies

It is ironic that the National Medical Council (NMC) has been asked to direct the state government to fill a large number of vacant posts in the medical teaching service within a stipulated time while three-fourths of the posts in the four autonomous boards of the NMC are vacant.The Committee on Undergraduate Medical Education, the Committee on Graduate Medical Education, and the Committee on Ethics and Medical Registration each have only one part-time member. They should each have five members, including the chairperson of each board. The Medical Assessment and Rating Committee alone has a chairperson and a part-time member, while the remaining three positions are vacant.When contacted, NMC Chairman Dr Abhijat Sheth confirmed that the government is currently considering the process of filling the vacancies on the board and told TOI that the NMC is fully operational with 28 of the 33 members currently in office. “All statutory requirements, including quorum, have been duly met and the operations of the committee and its board have not been affected,” he said.“Decisions at the policy level continue to be taken at the committee level. For matters related to autonomous committees, as per the Act, the Chairman is empowered to constitute expert committees and all functions are discharged through these duly constituted mechanisms,” Dr Sheth said.Even as the NMC board is full of vacancies, the Patna High Court has asked the board to direct states to fill teacher vacancies within six months. The court asked the NMC to “take appropriate action and direct the state government to initiate appointment/recruitment drive to fill up a large number of vacant posts in the medical teaching services within a stipulated time.” The court was hearing a petition challenging the biometric attendance system of the medical college in support of Aadhar.Pursuant to the order, the NMC has directed all states and union territories to take necessary steps.