Doctors peeved at NMC notification on licence transfer
NEW DELHI: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is planning to write to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya against a notification issued by National Medical Commission (NMC) obliging doctors to seek a transfer of their practice license when they move to another state. Apart from IMA, doctors and other medical bodies have also taken umbrage at the notification and demanded that it be withdrawn as it would make it difficult for doctors to practice in another state.
“We are discussing the matter as the gazette notification is ambiguous and vague. It has used objectionable terms. In a country facing acute shortage of specialised doctors, how can NMC restrict them from practicing in another state?” said IMA president Dr. Sharad Kumar Agarwal when reached for comments by this newspaper. “We will be writing to NMC and the Health minister, marking a copy to the Prime Minister. It is clear that the notification was not vetted properly, and the NMC issued it in a hurried manner,” he said.
The notification titled ‘Registration of Medical Practitioners and Licence to Practice Medicine Regulations, 2023’ stipulates that all registered medical practitioners (RMP) in India will now be covered under a standard National Medical Register and will be allotted a unique identification number.
The ethics board of the NMC will generate the unique ID and grant the RMP registration and the eligibility to practice medicine in India. One of its clauses is ‘Transfer of Licence to Practice’. It states that “if any medical practitioner registered with the State Medical Council, desirous of practicing medicine in another state may apply to the concerned State through the web portal of the Ethics and Medical Registration Board.”
Kannur-based ophthalmologist Dr. K V Babu has already written to the NMC president on the issue. “I appeal to the NMC chairman to withdraw the present regulations and introduce a new one addressing the concerns of doctors so that all doctors with UID can practice across the nation as Indian doctors,” he wrote.
Highlighting that the notification was not put in the public domain, he said, “In the present era where doctors have to practice in two or more states for various reasons, it will be ideal to allow doctors with UID to practice in any part of the country. The regulation is bureaucratic and regressive,” he said.
Citing some past examples, Dr Babu said when Kerala was affected by floods, RMPs from Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and other northern states came to Kerala and treated those who were affected. Similarly, doctors from other states gave a helping hand whenever there were natural calamities in Bihar, J&K, Uttarakhand, etc. “Did they get registered with the respective State Medical Councils?” He further said that doctors working in central government services could be transferred to other states nationwide. “Should they register with SMCs, with each transfer?” he asked.
“Our former PM (Manmohan Singh) was operated in AIIMS, Delhi, by a doctor registered with Maharashtra state medical council. They didn’t transfer his license to the Delhi medical council to do the surgery in AIIMS.” Dr Rohan Krishnan, national chairman and co-founder of Federation of All India Medical Association, said health is a state subject. “The apex medical body needs to clarify the role of the state medical council and NMC.”
Differing views
NMC
A notification by NMC stipulates that all registered medical practitioners will now be covered under a standard National Medical Register and will be allotted a unique identification number
‘Transfer of Licence Clause : Transfer practice licence if a medical practitioner registered with a State Medical Council wishes to practice in another state
IMA
The notification is ambiguous and vague and it has used objectionable terms. In a country facing acute shortage of specialised doctors, how can NMC restrict them from practicing in another state?
Will write to the health minister, with a copy to the prime minister. Notification not vetted properly, and the NMC issued it quickly