Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 25 (IANS) The health ministry Tuesday ruled out regulation of medical education by a higher education council proposed by the human resource development (HRD) ministry, saying medical science cannot be separated from health policy.
Health Secretary Sujatha Rao said: “There is no question (of health education being under the proposed National Council for Higher Education and Research). Medical science is a very specialised area and it cannot be divorced from actual health policy.”

Rao said this after an hour-long meeting with HRD Secretary Vibha Puri Das at the health ministry.

The meeting was held after the HRD ministry pitched for bringing health education under the purview of the proposed NCHER (National Council for Higher Education and Research) as the Medical Council of India, which regulated medical education, was dissolved May 15.

Former MCI president Ketan Desai was arrested on charges of taking bribe to give recognition to a medical college in Punjab though it did no conform to the MCI norms.

Rao made it clear that medical education will be placed under National Council for Human Resource in Health (NCHRH) as mentioned in President Pratibha Patil’s address to the joint session of parliament last year.

“We will have our own NCHRH to set the standards in health education,” she said.

Das, meanwhile, said that her ministry is yet to take a final decision on the NCHER bill.

“There were apprehensions about health education and NCHER. As of today, the task force has prepared the document of NCHER. The ministry is yet to take a final view. The ministry will take a decision in consultation with all ministries. We are discussing and working towards an agreed solution,” she said.

“We discussed the NCHER and how we can work in tandem with other ministries. They (health ministry officials) are very positive about how to bring about the best possible reforms and what will be the best possible way forward so that we can improve the quality of higher education,” Das said.