By IANS,
New Delhi: Medical Council of India (MCI) president Ketan Desai, who has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on graft charges, has resigned from the council.
Official sources said Desai submitted his resignation to MCI vice president P.C. Kesavankutty Nayar. The letter has been forwarded to the health ministry for approval.
Reacting to the development, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Thursday said his ministry will accept Desai’s resignation.
“We will accept it definitely,” Azad told IANS.
Desai was arrested April 22 for taking a bribe of Rs.2 crore to give recognition to a medical college in Punjab though it did not meet the MCI standards.
The minister, however, refused to say if the ordinance to change the Medical Council Act has been approved by the cabinet.
“Wait for a some time. In a day or two it will be clear,” Azad said.
The ordinance, which aims at modifying the Medical Council of India Act was scheduled to be presented to the cabinet for approval at its meeting Thursday.
The proposed changes in the act will give the central government greater say in the functioning of the MCI, which is an autonomous body of elected representatives.
A similar bill was rejected by a parliamentary committee in 2005, which said the proposed legislation destroyed the autonomy of the council.
The MCI is an statutory body that oversees the standards of medical education in India. It grants recognition to medical degrees, gives accreditation to medical colleges, registers medical practitioners, and monitors medical practice in the country.