Take Action to Enact the National Health Service Commission Act: Supreme Court to Center, States

The Supreme Court today (August 12) directed the Union Ministry of Health to convene an online meeting with all the Secretaries of State of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to ask for a road map for implementation. of the National Commission for Health Care (NCAHP) Act, 2021 within 2 weeks.

A bench with CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra was hearing a petition to implement the NCAHP Act of 2021.

The CJI observed that although the Act has been in force for 3-4 years, many of its provisions have not been implemented. Of the 28 districts and union territories, only 14 have established federal councils. Even these courts do not work well.

The council has expressed concern about the increasing number of unregulated institutions in the health care sector. It emphasized that this Law was intended to create a legal framework to control this growth, but the Union governments and governments have failed to fulfill their duties in the three years since the Law was passed.

“Although this court accepted the appeal in September 2023, the fact remains that the provisions of this law have not yet been fulfilled.

The act of parliament was intended to provide a legal framework to protect public interests against the proliferation of illegal organizations. Despite more than three years, the Federal Government and the State Governments have failed to fully fulfill their legal obligations.”

This petition calls for the implementation of Section 22(1) which provides for the establishment of professional councils and councils affiliated with the government and health care.

The bench issued the following orders to correct the above doubts: (1) The Union Governments and the governments must take measures to implement the Act within two months; (2) The Ministry of Health will hold an online meeting with all government secretaries of Family Welfare within two weeks to create a plan to implement the Law; (3) All States must establish the necessary framework and make the provisions of the Act applicable both in spirit and in spirit.

The order stated as follows:

“We order – (1) The Union and the States within 2 months take the necessary steps to implement the Law; (2) The Ministry of Health will hold an online meeting of all the State Secretary For Heath and Family Welfare to put ‘ road map to implement Laws (3) established by all countries and provisions are made to work not only in letter and spirit”

The court also ordered all states and local unions to submit a report of the legal agreement in the form of a table for the next hearing. Solicitor General (ASG) Vikramjit Banerjee appearing for the Union he was given two weeks to file a counter affidavit.

The CJI has also allowed the chairman of the National Commission to be included in future cases.

Rear end

The PIL was filed by the Joint Forum of Medical Technologists of India (JFMTI). It confirms that although the NCAHP Act came into effect on May 25, 2021, even after two years, its provisions had not been implemented. According to the petitioners, according to the first schedule, the National Councils should have been established within six months. However, the Central Government extended the time for its implementation several times, and granted five such extensions due to which the Act had not yet been implemented.

Furthermore, the PIL suggests that the absence of an institutional framework for certificates and diplomas from recognized institutions has created a barrier for job opportunities, and therefore, the need to standardize academic courses, curriculum, teaching staff and institutions are now evident. This is what leads to the proposal to establish a council that will set standards for categories that were previously unregulated.

It can be noted that a similar petition was filed in 2021. The said petition wanted the Law to be implemented to help the common people, especially in rural areas, distinguish between doctors of Modern Medicine ( Registered Medical Practitioners under the Indian Medical Council Act) and Medical Practitioners/Private Medical Practitioners.

Case Details : Joint Forum Of Medical Technologists Of India (Jfmti) & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. [W.P.(C) No. 983/2023]

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