The National Medical Commission Act, 2019

(1) This Act may be called the National MedicalCommission Act, 2019. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act andany reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference tothe coming into force of that provision.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- (a) “Autonomous Board” means any of the Autonomous Boards constituted under section 16; (b) “Chairperson” means the Chairperson of the National Medical Commission appointed undersection 5; (c) “Commission” means the National Medical Commission constituted under section 3; (d) “Council” means the Medical Advisory Council constituted under section 11; (e) “Ethics and Medical Registration Board” means the Board constituted under section 16; (f) “health University” means a University specialised in affiliating institutions engaged inteaching medicine, medical and health sciences and includes a medical University and University ofhealth sciences; (g) “licence” means a licence to practice medicine granted under sub-section (1) of section 33; (h) “Medical Assessment and Rating Board” means the Board constituted under section 16; (i) “medical institution” means any institution within or outside India which grants degrees,diplomas or licences in medicine and include affiliated colleges and deemed to be Universities; (j) “medicine” means modern scientific medicine in all its branches and includes surgery andobstetrics, but does not include veterinary medicine and surgery; (k) “Member” means a Member of the Commission appointed under section 5 and includes theChairperson thereof; (l) “National Board of Examination” means the body registered as such under the SocietiesRegistration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860) which grants broad-speciality and super-speciality qualificationsreferred to in the Schedule; (m) “National Register” means a National Medical Register maintained by the Ethics and MedicalRegistration Board under section 31; (n) “notification” means notification published in the Official Gazette and the expression “notify”shall be construed accordingly; (o) “Post-Graduate Medical Education Board” means the Board constituted under section 16; (p) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (q) “President” means the President of an Autonomous Board appointed under section 18; (r) “recognised medical qualification” means a medical qualification recognised under section 35or section 36 or section 37 or section 40, as the case may be; (s) “regulations” means the regulations made by the Commission under this Act; (t) “Schedule” means the Schedule to this Act; (u) “State Medical Council” means a medical council constituted under any law for the timebeing in force in any State or Union territory for regulating the practice and registration ofpractitioners of medicine in that State or Union territory; (v) “State Register” means a register maintained under any law for the time being in force in anyState or Union territory for registration of practitioners of medicine; (w) “Under-Graduate Medical Education Board” means the Board constituted under section 16; (x) “University” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (f) of section 2 of theUniversity Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956) and includes a health University.

(1) The Central Government shall constitute aCommission, to be known as the National Medical Commission, to exercise the powers conferred upon,and to perform the functions assigned to it, under this Act. (2) The Commission shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid, having perpetual successionand a common seal, with power, subject to the provisions of this Act, to acquire, hold and dispose ofproperty, both movable and immovable, and to contract, and shall, by the said name, sue or be sued. (3) The head office of the Commission shall be at New Delhi.

(1) The Commission shall consist of the following persons to beappointed by the Central Government, namely:-- (a) a Chairperson; (b) ten ex officio Members; and (c) twenty-two part-time Members. (2) The Chairperson shall be a medical professional of outstanding ability, proven administrativecapacity and integrity, possessing a postgraduate degree in any discipline of medical sciences from anyUniversity and having experience of not less than twenty years in the field of medical sciences, out ofwhich at least ten years shall be as a leader in the area of medical education. (3) The following persons shall be the ex officio Members of the Commission, namely:-- (a) the President of the Under-Graduate Medical Education Board; (b) the President of the Post-Graduate Medical Education Board; (c) the President of the Medical Assessment and Rating Board; (d) the President of the Ethics and Medical Registration Board; (e) the Director General of Health Services, Directorate General of Health Services, New Delhi; (f) the Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research; (g) a Director of any of the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, to be nominated by theCentral Government; (h) two persons from amongst the Directors of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education andResearch, Chandigarh; Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research,Puducherry; Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai; North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute ofHealth and Medical Sciences, Shillong; and All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health,Kolkata; to be nominated by the Central Government; and (i) one person to represent the Ministry of the Central Government dealing with Health andFamily Welfare, not below the rank of Additional Secretary to the Government of India, to benominated by that Ministry. (4) The following persons shall be appointed as part-time Members of the Commission, namely:-- (a) three Members to be appointed from amongst persons of ability, integrity and standing, whohave special knowledge and professional experience in such areas including management, law,medical ethics, health research, consumer or patient rights advocacy, science and technology andeconomics; (b) ten Members to be appointed on rotational basis from amongst the nominees of the States andUnion territories, under clauses (c) and (d) of sub-section (2) of section 11, in the Medical AdvisoryCouncil for a term of two years in such manner as may be prescribed; (c) nine members to be appointed from amongst the nominees of the States and Union territories,under clause (e) of sub-section (2) of section 11, in the Medical Advisory Council for a term of twoyears in such manner as may be prescribed. Explanation.-- For the purposes of this section and section 17, the term “leader” means the Headof a Department or the Head of an organisation.

(1) The CentralGovernment shall appoint the Chairperson, part-time Members referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (4)of section 4 and the Secretary referred to in section 8 on the recommendation of a Search Committeeconsisting of-- (a) the Cabinet Secretary----Chairperson; (b) three experts, possessing outstanding qualifications and experience of not less than twentyfive years in the field of medical education, public health education and health research, to benominated by the Central Government----Members; (c) one expert, from amongst the part-time Members referred to in clause (c) of sub-section (4) ofsection 4, to be nominated by the Central Government in such manner as may be prescribed----Member; (d) one person, possessing outstanding qualifications and experience of not less than twenty-fiveyears in the field of management or law or economics or science and technology, to be nominated bythe Central GovernmentMember; and (e) the Secretary to the Government of India in charge of the Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare, to be the ConvenorMember. (2) The Central Government shall, within one month from the date of occurrence of any vacancy,including by reason of death, resignation or removal of the Chairperson or a Member, or within threemonths before the end of tenure of the Chairperson or Member, make a reference to the SearchCommittee for filling up of the vacancy. (3) The Search Committee shall recommend a panel of at least three names for every vacancy referredto it. (4) The Search Committee shall, before recommending any person for appointment as theChairperson or a Member of the Commission, satisfy itself that such person does not have any financialor other interest which is likely to affect prejudicially his functions as such Chairperson or Member. (5) No appointment of the Chairperson or Member shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancyor absence of a Member in the Search Committee. (6) Subject to the provisions of sub-sections (2) to (5), the Search Committee may regulate its ownprocedure.