By IANS,
New Delhi : Parliament Wednesday passed the Medical Council of India (MCI) amendment bill after the Rajya Sabha adopted the motion for its passage following Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad promising to consult various stakeholders on a crucial legislation that seeks to create an overarching body for health institutions in the country.
“I have said that before we come to this house for a discussion on the overarching body, we will have a threadbare discussion with all political parties and will try to reach a consensus,” Azad said in his reply to the debate on the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2012.
The bill, already passed by the Lok Sabha, was passed by voice vote in the upper house. United Progressive Alliance (UPA) constituent Trinamool Congress sought to embarrass the government by slamming some provisions of the legislation in the Rajya Sabha.
The bill seeks to further extend the tenure of the board of governors, which replaced the elected body of MCI in May 2010, following its president Ketan Desai being arrested in a graft case. It seeks to increase the period of reconstitution of council from two years to three years and automatically increasing the term of office of board of governors by one more year.
Azad said the government was inclined to bring at the earliest a bill to create National Commission for Human Resources for Health (NCHRH).
Seeking the support of the house for the amendment to Indian Medical Council Act, he said he had to ask for extension of tenure of MCI board as standing committee on NCHRH bill is still awaited.
The Trinamool Congress had voted against the Medical Council Bill in the Lok Sabha prompting Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal to speak to party chief Mamata Banerjee.