Ordinance to supercede MCI gets President's nod
New Delhi, Sep 26 : An ordinance seeking to replace the existing body running the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a government-appointed committee has been signed by President Ram Nath Kovind, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday.
"In a Cabinet meeting, a proposal was made to the President, which he has signed... its purpose is to replace the existing body and allow it to be run by a committee composed of eminent persons," Jaitley said.
The committee or the 'Board of Governors' has now been appointed by the government in "supersession of the MCI".
The Board members include persons of eminence in the medical field: Dr V.K. Paul, member, NITI Aayog, Dr Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, New Delhi, Dr Jagat Ram, Director, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Dr B N Gangadhar, Director, NIMHANS, Bangalore, Dr Nikhil Tandon, Professor, Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, AIIMS, New Delhi, who were the members of second Oversight Committee.
Dr S. Venkatesh, DGHS and Professor Balram Bhargava, Secretary, DHR and Director General ICMR will be the ex-officio members," the government said in a statement.
A bill to replace the MCI with a National Medical Commission (NMC) has already been presented in Parliament. A parliamentary standing committee has also made its recommendations, but due to time factor the bill "has gone into an area of uncertainty", Jaitley said.
Pending Parliament's approval to the bill, the government has chosen to go for the ordinance since the term of the existing committee running the MCI ends in November.
In 2016, a committee to oversee the working of MCI was formed by the government at the direction of the Supreme Court, whose term expired in 2017. Another committee was then formed for the same purpose for another year.
"On July 6, 2018, Oversight Commitee (OC) cited instances of non-compliance of their instructions by MCI and said MCI has not only misinterpreted orders of the Supreme Court but has also challenged the authority of the OC. Subsequently all members of OC have resigned," the government said.
"In such circumstances when the Supreme Court-mandated Oversight Committee is unable to function due to non-cooperation of MCI and the NMC Bill is pending in Parliament and its passage is likely to take some time, certain immediate steps are required to be taken," it said in support of its decision to go for the ordinance.
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Sculptor Ram Sutar, designer of Statue of Unity, passes away
New Delhi (PTI): Noted sculptor Ram Sutar, known for designing the world's tallest statue — Statue of Unity — in Gujarat, passed away late on Wednesday night at his Noida residence, his son said.
He was 100 and ailing with age-related illnesses.
"It is with profound grief that we inform you of the passing of my father Shri Ram Vanji Sutar on 17th December midnight at our residence," his son Anil Sutar said in a note shared with the press on Thursday.
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Born in a humble family in Gondur village under the Dhule district of present-day Maharashtra on February 19, 1925, Sutar is known to have been drawn to sculpting from his childhood.
A gold medallist from JJ School of Art and Architecture, Mumbai, Sutar, has to his credit a long list of achievements.
The iconic statues of Mahatma Gandhi seated in a meditating pose and of Chhatrapati Shivaji riding a horse on the Parliament premises rank among his finest creations.
The Statue of Unity honours Sardar Patel, country's first deputy prime minister and home minister.
Sutar was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016.
Recently, Sutar was conferred with the Maharashtra Bhushan Puraskar, the state's highest award.
