Delhi health minister tried to push tainted doctor into the body

AAP Government’s Brazen Bid to Hijack DMC Aborted

 New Delhi, March 25: AAP government has badly dented its credibility in its bid to hijack medical regulatory body, Delhi Medical Council (DMC). In trying to gate crash into already constituted statutory body, Delhi’s health minister, Satyendra Jain, burnt his fingers badly.  Delhi High court stayed his bid to impose his nominees in the body.

As if it was not enough, now it turns out that the doctors that Mr Jain nominated to thrust upon already constituted body are tainted ones who have no locus standi to oversee medical practice in Delhi and adjudicate on negligence complaints. Shockingly, one of them was once jailed on charge of negligence.

A week ago, the Delhi High Court stayed the notification issued by Delhi Health Minister Mr Jain on appointing the new members for Delhi Medical Council.

The term of outgoing council ended in December last year. Elections for the new council were held in November. Delhi being under President’s rule then, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung nominated four doctors to the council – Ambrish Mithal (Padma Shree), endocrinologist from Medanta Medicity, AIIMS professor Manoj K. Singh, Vinay Aggarwal, former president of Indian Medical Association, and paediatrician Ravi Malik. Annulling these names, AAP government notified new set of doctors for nomination.  Two of the previously nominated doctors approached the court challenging the notification and announced AAP’s bid as brazenly illegal.

Talking to Meditoall Editor-in- Chief, Dr. Vinay Aggarwal, billed as new president of DMC, voiced a conciliatory note saying, ‘We are not at all against AAP government. We want to work together in the best interest of Delhites. My only prayer to AAP government is that it should act constitutionally in this case. We would work not as adversary of the government but as a partner in the government’s effort to give Delhi an effective healthcare system.’

Given the current scenario of matter being sub-judice, it seems the old council has got a new lease of life which has left body’s earlier members happy. Till new body comes in effect, old body, already ended, will work.

In the mean it also turns out that AAP government did not even do due diligence in nominating new members. Two of them are themselves tainted and do not have the locus standi to keep an eye on quacks and cases of medical negligence. They are facing charges of medical negligence. The new set of nominated members contains Dr Atul Kumar Gupta, Dr Arun Kumar Gupta, Dr Chander Prakash and Dr Yogesh Kumar Sarin. Shockingly, one of them was once jailed criminal negligence.