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The Medical Council of India has issued new guidelines regarding what a physician can (or can not) accept from a pharmaceutical company. Its a laudable move. Eventually it is the hapless patient who pays for the trips of medical men to exotic locations.
However, the apex body itself suffers from lack of transparency.
Its inspectors sometimes turn a blind eye to the medical faculty that travels with them in the same train while visiting a newly permitted medical college. Sometimes they can even be old buddies!
These senior faculty members may be employed in states far off from the one they actually live (read practice) in. Getting a post retirement re-employment helps them make easy bucks.
Worse, while they are in the campus (either for face presentation during an MCI visit or to collect their pay cheque), they create havoc for the "resident", young aspiring, faculty. Instead of helping them hone their skills (which often they may not be capable of), they humiliate them sometimes compelling them to leave a medical college in disgust.
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) that overlooks other professional education including engineering has suggested biometric imprint to keep an eye on the presence of teaching faculty. I guess, the MCI needs to follow suit.
There was a suggestion to create a more transparent body that would amalgamate the existing bodies such as the MCI, AICTE, UGC etc. The government seems to be evaluating the idea again. I do not know which way it would be better for our education system.
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