Medical students protest against new NMC bill

Vadodara: Medical students in the city have joined the nation-wide protest against the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill 2019 that has been introduced in Lok Sabha. Once NMC Bill is enacted, the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, will stand repealed.
On Tuesday, as part of the protest call given by the Gujarat state branch of the medical students’ network of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), students of medical colleges in the city burnt NMC Bill copies terming it against autonomy.
Further, starting from Wednesday, medical students in the city have decided to join the hunger strike protests which will be held till July 26.
IMA headquarters has appealed all its 1,731 local branches to burn NMC Bill on July 25 while a march to ‘Nirman Bhaban’ has been planned on July 29.
On the same day, a ‘Chhatra Sansad’ will be called at IMA headquarters in New Delhi to chalk out further steps of the protest programme.
“IMA has been fighting against the NMC Bill since 2016 and the Bill has undergone cosmetic changes. The core concerns raised by IMA have not been addressed.
While the deleterious clauses have been retained, the government has added section 32 legalizing quackery by empowering community health providers to practice medicine endangering the lives of people. This is the single largest threat to the health of the nation,” a release issued by IMA said.