The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has sent a letter once more today, February 25, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to reconsider the merger proposal of the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), stating the merger would prove to be detrimental.
Dr Sharad Kumar Agarwal, National President of IMA says, "We have mentioned in detail the reasons why a merger is not suitable in the letter. We had sent one previously in January when the merger was prosed. This is just a reminder." A copy of the current letter is available with EdexLive. It points out 7 significant beneficial measures introduced by the NBEMS.
"NBEMS is a capable body which has been functioning well, while the NMC is already overburdened. So, there is no point in the merger," Dr Agarwal said. He goes on to say that the examinations under the body are well-conducted, PG seats were increased by it and has brought out fellowship programmes, among other measures. The IMA letter to the PM additionally points out that Diploma courses which were introduced by NBEMS would suffer if the merger comes through.
"NBEMS as an autonomous body under your leadership has performed to the needs of the society in the last few years and it would be detrimental if NBEMS is merged with NMC as the pace of reforms undertaken by NBEMS is likely to be slowed down," the document reads. "We on behalf of IMA humbly request you to reconsider the proposal of merger of NBEMS and NMC and allow NBEMS to continue in its present form as an autonomous body of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," it adds.
The merger was proposed in early January when the Cnetre decided to amend the 2019 NMC Bill. "It has been decided to make amendments in the NMC Act 2019 to incorporate provisions for setting up a fifth autonomous board, namely Board of Examination in Medical Sciences under the NMC," stated a public notice on the draft NMC (Amendment) Bill on December 29, 2022, as per a report by News18. It was proposed that the new board would conduct the NExT (National Exit Test).
