Amid reservation raised by Health Ministry on inclusion of medical educational institutes under a proposed bill to accredit them also, a Parliamentary panel has suggested incorporating specific provisions to take care of the specialised nature of medical education."The committee observes that medical and health institutes are totally different from technical institutes, law colleges or medical colleges. Different tools and techniques are employed to asses and evaluate medical institutes.
Therefore, chances of overlapping and conflict of interest are very much there if provisions of the proposed bill are not properly laid down," the Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD said in its report laid in the House today.The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010, with provisions for mandatory accreditation by the institutes was introduced in Lok Sabha on May 3, 2010 and thereafter referred to the standing committee.The committee held wide range of deliberation with different stakeholders after it felt there was inadequate consultation with them including with medical bodies.During the consultation, it felt that as the word assessment could lead to conflict, it requires rethinking.It further appeared to endorse the reservation of the Health Ministry on inclusion of medical educational institutes like AIIMS, PGI and JIPMER under the ambit of the bill as they are centres of excellence created by an act of Parliament.