BENGALURU: In order to check fake doctors from practicing, the state government has passed the Karnataka Medical Registration Amendment Bill. The Bill mandates that medical practitioners register with the government and renew it every five years by presenting their Aadhaar and biometric details.
Speaking at the Legislative Council on Friday, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said there are 1.16 lakh medical practitioners working in Karnataka. While 10,000 doctors from Karnataka have settled down outside the country and another 10,000 are outside the state.
“As per our earlier Act, a medical practitioner has to register once in a lifetime. There was no need for a renewal. In some cases, we found that some people were practicing medicine in the name of a deceased doctor. So, we decided to ensure renewal is done once in five years,’’ he said.
According to the Bill, when doctors come for a renewal, they must have earned 30 credit points in the previous five years. Each credit point is gained by attending medical seminars, conferences and workshops.
“There is a need for these doctors to update their knowledge constantly. This also means, improving patients treatment,”he said.
Sharan Prakash, who himself is a doctor, said an exemption has been given to those medical practitioners who are administrators, MLAs, MLCs and ministers from earning credit points.