NMC’s PPC 2023 circular negates autonomy; should focus on strengthening medical education: IDPD

NEW DELHI: The Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) expressed dismay over the National Medical Commission’s recent circular asking medical colleges to give wide publicity for Pariksha Pe Charcha (PPC 2023) and said that “the NMC should maintain its autonomous status and not succumb to pressure”.

Pariksha Pe Charcha is an annual programme conducted by the ministry of education, Government of India that provides an opportunity for students to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of board exams 2023. PM Modi also gives tips on how to deal with the board exam pressure.

The NMC circular read, “All medical colleges are requested to give wide publicity for the programme and make necessary arrangements for viewing the programme.” This year, PPC 2023 will be held on January 27, 2023.

President of IDPD SS Soodan said: “The NMC is a regulatory body to overlook the medical curriculum, streamline medical education and promote health of the people in the country. The body has autonomous status. Therefore, to send such a circular to the medical colleges gives an impression that the institution of NMC is working at the behest of the government’s propaganda machinery thus negating the very purpose of its being an autonomous institution to promote medical education and healthcare in the country.”

Arun Mitra, senior vice-president, said counselling medical students on how to deal with exam stress is a highly specialized job and it cannot be done through “propaganda gimmicks”. “Any misinformation and wrong direction can be counterproductive instead,” Mitra said.

IDPD general secretary Shakeel Ur Rahman further informed that their organisation have appealed to the NMC chairman to withdraw the PPC 2023 circular and leave the students at liberty to watch the said event at their will. “The NMC may instead probe and monitor issues like the mysterious deaths of 12 medical students from a medical college in Bareilly. It should focus on strengthening the medical education system as per the modern scientific developments in the field of medicine,” Rahman said.