CHENNAI: Alleging that 'medical education' being moved from the state list to the concurrent list of the Constitution in 1976 has led to a systematic erosion of state autonomy in healthcare, DMK MLA and part-time member of the state planning commission Ezhilan Naganathan submitted a report to the high-level committee on centre-state relations, constituted by the state government, recommending that the subject be restored to the state list.
Ezhilan made a detailed presentation on Saturday about the recommendation report and on the 'overt centralisation of powers in the subject of health and medical education' before the high-level committee members — retired IAS officer K Ashok Vardhan Shetty and former state planning commission vice chairman M Naganathan.
He also stressed on the need to abolish the National Medical Commission (NMC) and bring back the statutory body of Medical Council of India (MCI). He argued the NMC act undermines state participation in health education and also referred to the disadvantages of NEET.
"The state government shall be the sole authority in creating and regulating medical education institutions, both public and private," the report recommended.
Stating that union-funded health programmes have increasingly taken over core state health functions, the report recommended that "national health programmes should be devised with state consultation to streamline proper allocation and appropriate use of resources".
The report also argued that the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has reduced the state's role in pharmaceutical regulation and clearance mechanisms, creating an unfavorable ecosystem for local MSME pharma manufacturers, and that the centralisation in organ transplant policy has undermined Tamil Nadu's internationally acclaimed cadaver transplant programme.