In News: The Lok Sabha passed the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2020, on March 24, 2021 and the bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on March 16, 2021.
Bill Aimed At: The Bill seeks to regulate and standardise the education and practice of allied and healthcare professionals.
National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2020
Key Features of the Bill
Healthcare Professional
- Includes a scientist, therapist, or any other professional who studies, advises, researches, supervises, or provides preventive, curative, rehabilitative, therapeutic, or promotional health services.
- Such a professional should have obtained a degree under this Bill and duration of the degree should be at least 3,600 hours (over a period of three to six years).
Allied Health Professional
- Defines ‘allied health professional’ as an associate, technician, or technologist trained to support the diagnosis and treatment of any illness, disease, injury, or impairment.
- Allied Health Professional should have obtained a diploma or degree under this Bill and duration of the degree /diploma should be at least 2,000 hours (over a period of two to four years).
Allied and Healthcare Professions
- Certain categories of allied and healthcare professions as recognised categories.
- Include life science professionals, trauma and burn care professionals, surgical and anaesthesia related technology professionals, physiotherapists, and nutrition science professionals.
Professional Councils
- Professional Council for every recognised category of allied and healthcare professions.
- Professional Council will consist of a president and four to 24 members, representing each profession in the recognised category
State Councils
- State Councils consist
- Chairperson (at least 25 years of experience in the field of allied and healthcare science)
- One member representing medical sciences in the state government
- Two members representing state medical colleges
- Two members representing charitable institutions
- Two members from each of the recognised categories of allied and healthcare professions, nominated by the state government, among others.
- Function of State Councils
- To enforce professional conduct and code of ethics to be observed by allied healthcare professionals.
- To maintain respective State Registers.
- To inspect allied and healthcare institutions
- To ensure uniform entry and exit examinations.
Establishment of institutions
- Prior permission of the State Council will be required
- To establish a new institution,
- Topen new courses, increase the admission capacity, or admit a new batch of students to existing institutions.
- If such permission is not sought, then any qualification granted to a student from such an institution will not be recognised under the Bill.
Offences and penalties
- No person is allowed to practice as a qualified allied and healthcare practitioner other than those enrolled in a State Register or the National Register.
- Any person who contravenes this provision will be punished with a fine of Rs 50,000.
National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions
The Bill provided set up for the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions.
- The Commission consist
- Chairperson
- Vice-Chairperson
- Five members (at the level of Joint Secretary) representing various Departments/ Ministries of the central government, One representative from the Directorate General of Health Services
- Three Deputy Directors or Medical Superintendents appointed on a rotational basis from amongst medical institutions including the AIIMS, Delhi and AIIPMR, Mumbai
- 12 part-time members representing State Councils.
- Functions of the Commission
- Commission responsible for Framing policies and standards for regulating education and practice.
- Commission responsible for creating and maintaining an online Central Register of all registered professionals.
- Commission responsible for providing basic standards of education, courses, curriculum, staff qualifications, examination, training, maximum fee payable for various categories.
- Commission responsible for providing for a uniform entrance and exit examination.
Source: PRSIndia
