New Delhi: After 3 years into the matter, the officiating chairperson and 6 other members of the National Medical Commission (NMC) have now disclosed their assets and liabilities in compliance with the National Medical Commission Act, 2019.
Details including the permanent and present address, movable and immovable property, along with the declaration by the members of the Commission have now been uploaded on the official website of NMC.
The details of assets and liabilities of NMC Officiating Chairperson Dr. B.N. Gangadhar, President of NMC UG Medical Education Board Dr. Aruna V Vanikar, President of PG Medical Education Board Dr. Vijay Oza, and other whole-time members including Dr. Vijayendra Kumar, Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi Nag, Dr. Jitu Lal Meena, and Dr. Yogender Malik have now been uploaded on the NMC website.
However, NMC Act mandates that all 33 members - chairperson, ten ex-officio members and 22 part-time members, declare the assets.
Currently, the details of asset disclosure have been provided for the NMC officiating chairperson and the presidents of all the NMC Boards, except for the President of the Ethics and Medical Registration Board, the post for which is currently vacant.
What is still missing on the website is the details of other ex-officio members and the part-time members of the Commission, who represent different States and Union Territories.
This comes after the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) intervened. had earlier reported that the pending issue of asset disclosure was raised by Kannur-based Health Activist Dr. KV Babu, who filed a Right to Information (RTI) application in this regard to the Prime Minister's Office.
Consequently, the PMO directed the Union Health Ministry to take "appropriate action" in this regard. Apart from directing the Union Health Ministry to take action, the PMO also forwarded the complaint on non-disclosure of assets by the NMC members.
Finally, the details of assets and liabilities of the NMC members were uploaded on the official website, and reacting to this latest development, Dr. Babu told , "I welcome the decision to post the assets and liabilities on the website and it's the right step towards transparency. I am thankful to the PMO for the intervention and forcing the NMC members to disclose the assets. I consider it as a huge victory."
NMC Act 2019 on Asset Disclosure:
The Chairperson and every member of NMC must declare their assets and liabilities at the time of entering the office and at the time of emitting it, mention the rules.
In this regard, Section 6(6) of the NMC Act 2019 States, "The Chairperson and every member of the Commission shall make declaration of his assets and his liabilities at the time of entering upon his office and at the time of demitting his office and also declare his professional and commercial engagement or involvement in such form and manner as may be prescribed, and such declaration shall be published on the website of the Commission."
Even though the NMC Act 2019 made it mandatory for its members to declare their assets and liabilities, the issue was pending for a long time. Raising this issue, RTI activist Dr. Babu KV had previously filed several applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. He had alleged a lack of transparency in the functioning of the Commission. Despite several applications, there was no response from NMC.
Apart from filing the RTI applications, he also wrote to the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and pointed out that NMC was violating the NMC Act and RTI Act 2005 and therefore, he urged the Union Health Ministry to invoke section 45 of the NMC Act 2019 and direct the Commission to comply with NMC Act 6(6) and disclose the assets and liabilities without any delay.
Finally, Dr. Babu raised the matter before the PMO on October 16, 2023, and filed an RTI application on October 24, 2023. Consequently, he received an RTI Reply on 09.11.2023 mentioning that his application was forwarded to the Health Ministry.
Amid the rising pressure to make the details of the assets and liabilities of the NMC Chairman and members public, the Commission earlier expressed its 'reservations' in this regard.
Writing to the Under Secretary of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the Commission mentioned the reservations about uploading some of the personal information of the officers including the details of lands, jewellery, investments in banks/ financial institutions/ insurance policy i.e. numbers, addresses etc.
At that time, while expressing its reservations, NMC had urged the Ministry to review the prescribed forms mentioned in the NMC Act, 2019 and furnish its decision on the matter urgently.
Also Read: Disclosure of Assets of Members: NMC Expresses its Reservations to Health Ministry