NMC, DGHS fail to comply with court order on medical college admission of disabled candidates

NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) and Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) have failed to comply with the recommendation made by the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) in matters related to medical course admission of applicants with disabilities. Neither NMC nor the DGHS submitted action taken reports on CCPD’s recommendations to include doctors with disabilities in the committee framing guidelines for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) and Postgraduate (NEET PG) applicants with disabilities and to increase facilitation centers for medical examination.

After failing to respond and comply with the CCPD’s recommendations within three months, NMC and DGHS have now failed to submit action taken reports within 10 days of the notice issued by court of CCPD on May 31.

This has come at a time when NMC in its Graduate Medical Education Regulations 2023 guidelines or GMER-23 guidelines has issued rules for persons with disabilities admission in MBBS course. Last month, the Supreme Court asked NMC to frame new guidelines on candidates with psychological disability for MBBS admission. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced the NEET UG 2023 results and counselling for MBBS admission will begin soon.

Disability rights activist Satendra Singh, on whose complaint court of CCPD made the recommendations in January (with corrigendum in April), has requested the CCPD to consider this incident as “a case of non-compliance” by NMC and submit a special report on this matter to the union ministry of health and family welfare.

“The problem is that candidates with disabilities have no clarity. The existing guidelines debar candidates with psychosocial disabilities. On the contrary, the revised NMC guidelines allow them, but they are not yet final and also have controversial statements for those with physical disabilities. Candidates have the right to know what awaits them, and this insensitivity from the NMC is appalling,” Singh told Careers360.

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No disabled doctors in panel

Singh, professor of physiology at University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS), New Delhi, in an official communication to CCPD informed that during a video conferencing hearing on December 1, 2022, a NMC official stated that a new committee was being constituted to review the guidelines for medical course admission of applicants with disabilities. In response to an Right To Information (RTI) application, NMC admitted that none of the experts involved in formulating the new guidelines on December 19, 2022 were persons with benchmark disabilities.

In its order on January 10, 2023 and further, in the corrigendum dated April 5, 2023, the court of CCPD directed the NMC and DGHS to form an expert committee which shall comprise medical practitioners and doctor(s) with disability, to examine the problems candidates face during the second evaluation for admission to an undergraduate or postgraduate medical course. The Delhi court also asked NMC and DGHS to increase the number of facilitation centers from 16 to many more “so that divyang candidates do not have to face un-necessary problems in evaluation”.

Both NMC and DGHS were asked to submit reports on their compliance with the order within three months of January 10, the date of the order. In response Shambhu Sharan Kumar, director undergraduate medical education board of NMC, on the grievance portal stated "Since the order has been issued by CCPD, they will take a call."

A letter obtained by Singh and signed by Kumar dated February 7, 2023 explicitly states that “none of the experts in this meeting are persons with benchmark disabilities.” This non-compliance was brought to the notice of CCPD by Singh on April 30, 2023 but neither NMC nor DGHS has responded till now.

Singh has requested the CCPD to consider this as a case of non-compliance and submit a special report on this matter to the ministry of health and family welfare, as well as before each house of Parliament, in accordance with relevant sections of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016.

The court of CCPD in its notice dated May 31, 2023 granted “final opportunity” to NMC and DGHS to file an “action taken report” within 10 days of receiving the notice.

“In case the respondents fail to file the Action Taken Report, this court shall presume that the respondents have not taken any action and have violated the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016,” the notice says.

The action against NMC and DGHS for violation of Act may be initiated under relevant provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and the issue will also be reported to Indian Parliament, notice said. NMC and DGHS are yet to submit their respective action taken reports.

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According to Singh, the “controversial guidelines” have the potential to detrimentally impact the careers of countless aspirants with disabilities ahead of NEET counselling.

“The guidelines by NMC framed by non-disabled experts contains lots of controversial, non-scientific, and ableistic claims which needs to be revised in consultation with doctors with disabilities as per the CCPD recommendation as well the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 and UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which India has ratified,” he said.