BS RAWAT
NEW DELHI: The Indian Health Ministry has selected 25 members of the National Medical Commission (NMC), which will automatically dissolve the 63-year-old Medical Council of India.

A draw of lots was held on October 14 to select members of the NMC from the nominations sent by the state governments, UTs and State Medical Councils which include 10 Vice Chancellors (VCs), nine members from the State Medical Council and four part-time members from the autonomous boards.

The draw of lots held in the presence of Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Chowbey, in which 10 VCs were chosen from Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Dagar and Nagar Haveli, Punjab, and Haryana.

Similarly, nine representatives from various state medical councils have been selected from Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Kerala, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Manipur.

In the third segment of the draw of lots, four members from the autonomous boards -- Undergraduate (UG), Post Graduate (PG), Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) and Ethics and Registration Board -- were chosen. These members got selected from Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, and Madhya Pradesh, who will serve as part-time members.

Out of nine selected members from SMCs, one member has to be a part of the Search Committee, which will be headed by the Cabinet Secretary. In the process of the draw of lots, selected members from Uttarakhand State Medical Council were picked up for a member of the Search Committee.