Parliamentary panel looking into NMC Bill asked to submit report by first week of Budget Session

A parliamentary standing committee, examining the contentious National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, has been asked to submit its report by the first week of the Budget Session.

The bill, which seeks to overhaul medical education and replace the Medical Council of India, had triggered protests from doctors with their apex body resorting to a strike.

The Rajya Sabha chairman, in consultation with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, has referred the NMC Bill to the standing committee on health and asked its to submit its report by the last day of the first week of the budget session, according to a Lok Sabha bulletin.


The Budget session will start from January 29 and its first phase will conclude on February 9.

Health Minister J P Nadda had introduced the bill in the winter session amid protests from Congress members, who had demanded that it be sent to the standing committee.

The Indian Medical Association is strongly opposing the bill, saying it will "cripple" the functioning of medical professionals by making them answerable to the bureaucracy and non-medical administrators.