The Highlight: 1. The strike called by the IMA went on for around eight hours today. 2. The bill was referred to the parliamentary committee following protest from the opposition parties as well as doctors. 3. The bill seeks to overhaul medical education and replace the Medical Council of India. Why the following message is important: “The referral of the NMC Bill to Standing Committee may not due to pressure from medical community. It may be part of procedure. The job of IMA and medical community will be to influence Standing Committee by presenting memorandum to MPs in their respective constituencies.” The Scenario: Bills or Acts of Government are drawn by the concerned ministry. Generally new Acts are brought based on public demand as perceived from demonstrations of public, opposition parties, poll promise of ruling party or demand from civil society, media or courts. The Ministry usually invites suggestions from stake holders before drawing the Act. Once the Act is drafted it is tabled in the Parliament. Most Acts are sent to the concerned Standing Committee by the Speaker for further deliberations. Standing Committee again invites suggestions from public and stake holders. Standing Committee conducts meetings where witnesses are invited to present views. The recommendations of the committee are tabled in the Parliament. This report is sent to the Ministry. Ministry will re-draft the bill accommodating the suggestions. However, Ministry has the prerogative to reject all the recommendations. This whole process may take months to years depending on the Government's urgency and inclination in enacting the Bill. The referral of the NMC Bill to Standing Committee may not due to pressure from medical community. It may be part of procedure. The job of IMA and medical community will be to influence Standing Committee by presenting memorandum to MPs in their respective constituencies. National office bearers of IMA should meet the Chairman and members of the Standing Committee on Health and educate them. IMA should suggest amendments to the Act. The Standing Committee Members we need to contact (with email addresses): Chairman : Shri. Ram Gopal Yadav ramgopal.yadav@sansad.nic.in Members from Lok Sabha 1. Thangso Baite - t.baite@sansad.nic.in 2. Nandkumar Singh Chouhan - nandkumar.chauhan@sansad.nic.in, nandkumar.bjp@gmail.com 3. Heena Vijaykumar Gavit gn.vijaykumar@sansad.nic.in, drheenagavit@gmail.com 4. Sanjay Jaiswal - drsanjayjaiswal@gmail.com, drsanjay.jaiswal@sansad.nic.in 5. K. Kamraj - k.kamaraj@sansad.nic.in 6. Arjunlal Meena - arjunlal.meena@sansad.nic.in 7. Chirag Paswan - office.chiragpaswan@gmail.com 8. J. J.T. Natterjee - natterjee@gmail.com 9. M.K. Raghavan - mk.raghavan.sansad.nic.in, calicutmp@yahoo.co.in 10. Manoj Rajoriya - manoj.rajoria@sansad.nic.in, dr.manojrajoria001@gmail.com 11. kant Eknath Shinde - contact@eknathshinde.com 12. Mahendra Nath Pandey - mahendranath.pandey@sansad.nic.in, drmnpandeymp@gmail.com 13. Kanwar Singh Tanwar - ks.tanwar@sansad.nic.in, rajrealgroup@gmail.com 14. Rita Tarai - ritatarai@sansad.nic.in 15. Manohar Untwal - utwalmanohar@gmail.com, 16. Akshay Yadav - akshay.yadav@sansad.nic.in, yadavakshay@yahoo.com 17. C. R. Patil - cr.patil@sansad.nic.in, crpatiloffice@ymail.com, c_r_patil@yahoo.com 18. Anoop Mishra - anoop.mishra@sansad.nic.in, 19. Bharat Singh - bharatsingh.ballia@sansad.nic.in, mpbharatsingh.ballia@gmail.com 20. Dasrath Tirkey - dasrath.tirkey@sansad.nic.in, dasrathirey@gmail.com 21. Gyan Singh - no email address Members from Rajya Sabha 1. Ashok Siddharth - mlcashoksiddarth@gmail.com 2. Manas Ranjan Bhunia - drmbhunia@yahoo.co.in 3. Ronald Sapa Tlau - rstlau@gmail.com, rs.tlau@sansad.nic.in 4. R. Lakshmanan - r.luxman@sansad.nic.in, drluxmen@gmail.com 5. Jairam Ramesh - jairam@sansad.nic.in, jairam@vsnl.com, jairam54@gmail.com 6. Ram Gopal Yadav - ramgopal.yadav@sansad.nic.in 7. Sampatiya Uikey - sampatiyauikeymandla@gmail.com, 8. K. Somaprasad - k.somaprasad@gmail.com 9. Vikas Mahatme - isvm@mahatmehospital.com 10. C.P. Thakur - cp.thakur@sansad.nic.in, drcpthakurpatna@gmail.com *Minister of Health and Family Welfare: Shri JP Nadda - jpnadda@gmail.com What you can do to help the cause: Get in touch with the standing committee members via email and appeal for amendment of the NMC Bill. Note: Refer to petition letter, any suggestions to the bill may be addressed in the comments section or by contacting your local IMA representative. Jai Hind!