Support E Voting
If ours is not a profession how then can it be a noble profession ?
The fundamental Characteristics of a Profession as opposed to a trade is that a profession has to have professional autonomy and is self regulatory. Various laws and their interpretation by judiciary have removed both these key features. Samira Kohli vs Dr Prabha Manchanda judgment by Supreme Court has opined that doctors cannot use their own judgment but should follow the instructions of the patient. NMC Act has made the entire regulatory body nominated and there are no elected members in this body. Even the 9 part time members from those who are elected to various State Medical Councils are finally nominated (from among them) by the Governments (Non representative). Also the Central Government can override the National Medical Commission and even dissolve the NMC at its whims and fancies (NMC is not autonomous but a department under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare). Also our profession is regulated by atleast 10 judicial and quasijudicial fora and majority of these do not have a medical professional on their bench (No self regulation).
Also with 70 percent of healthcare being provided by Small and medium Healthcare establishments there is no representation in the NMC of doctors working in these establishments which makes the NMC as non representative. If in 1947 the Britishers had nominated 500 Indians to rule the country would we have been content because that was also a kind of “Swaraj”.
It is imperative that we start a movement to demand restoration of our professional autonomy but for that we will need to clean our own stables as well. Our organizations’ and associations’ election processes are riddled with irregularities and corruption. Postal ballots are collected, hijacked and traded. The answer lies in e voting as done by NDSL and CDSL. Online platforms like right2vote.in and many others exist already and can be used to conduct un-manipulated elections. Some medical organizations like Indian Society of Gastroenterology already use e voting for last few years to elect their office bearers. Giving all members a chance to vote directly without manipulating their vote will result in leadership which is representative and therefore accountable.
Please Support a demand for E Voting for State Medical Councils, Indian Medical Association, Specialty Organizations.
Dr Neeraj Nagpal
Convenor,Medicos Legal Action Group
If ours is not a profession how then can it be a noble profession ?
The fundamental Characteristics of a Profession as opposed to a trade is that a profession has to have professional autonomy and is self regulatory. Various laws and their interpretation by judiciary have removed both these key features. Samira Kohli vs Dr Prabha Manchanda judgment by Supreme Court has opined that doctors cannot use their own judgment but should follow the instructions of the patient. NMC Act has made the entire regulatory body nominated and there are no elected members in this body. Even the 9 part time members from those who are elected to various State Medical Councils are finally nominated (from among them) by the Governments (Non representative). Also the Central Government can override the National Medical Commission and even dissolve the NMC at its whims and fancies (NMC is not autonomous but a department under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare). Also our profession is regulated by atleast 10 judicial and quasijudicial fora and majority of these do not have a medical professional on their bench (No self regulation).
Also with 70 percent of healthcare being provided by Small and medium Healthcare establishments there is no representation in the NMC of doctors working in these establishments which makes the NMC as non representative. If in 1947 the Britishers had nominated 500 Indians to rule the country would we have been content because that was also a kind of “Swaraj”.
It is imperative that we start a movement to demand restoration of our professional autonomy but for that we will need to clean our own stables as well. Our organizations’ and associations’ election processes are riddled with irregularities and corruption. Postal ballots are collected, hijacked and traded. The answer lies in e voting as done by NDSL and CDSL. Online platforms like right2vote.in and many others exist already and can be used to conduct un-manipulated elections. Some medical organizations like Indian Society of Gastroenterology already use e voting for last few years to elect their office bearers. Giving all members a chance to vote directly without manipulating their vote will result in leadership which is representative and therefore accountable.
Please Support a demand for E Voting for State Medical Councils, Indian Medical Association, Specialty Organizations.
Dr Neeraj Nagpal
Convenor,Medicos Legal Action Group
deemagclinic
deemagclinic 