Following pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), members of the National Medical Commission (NMC) have now disclosed their assets on the official website. This move comes after a series of reports highlighted that NMC members, despite being in leadership roles for three years, had not fulfilled the requirement to post their assets, thereby violating the NMC Act 2019. The PMO directed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to take appropriate action in response to an RTI complaint regarding the non-disclosure of assets by NMC members, including the officiating chairman, Dr B N Gangadhar. NMC had been urging the ministry to revise the disclosure format due to reservations expressed by some members.
In response to the PMO’s push, seven members, including Dr B N Gangadhar and presidents of all the boards, have now declared their assets on the official website. RTI activist Dr K V Babu, who had been advocating for transparency in this matter, welcomed the decision and considered it a significant victory. He expressed gratitude to the PMO for intervening and compelling NMC members to disclose their assets. Dr Babu emphasized that posting assets on the website is a crucial first step, and he hopes that other members will follow suit. According to the NMC Act 2019, failure to comply with asset disclosure requirements may result in removal from positions and even cancellation of medical licenses.
Despite submitting asset declarations following Babu’s RTIs, NMC members had been resisting the issue of posting them on the official website. Dr Babu initially raised the matter with Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on August 15, 2023, and has consistently pursued it since filing his first RTI on April 6, 2023. The NMC, responsible for regulating medical education and professionals, currently has 33 members, with four posts vacant.
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