The Indian government will allow overseas Indian doctors to practice in the country without undergoing screening tests Health Secretary P K Pradhan said.
“The centre is ready with the bill to amend the Medical Council of India (MCI) Act and allow the overseas Indians to practice in their homeland as demanded by the expatriate professionals for long. This is expected during the budget session of parliament,” he said, speaking at the Global Healthcare Summit held in Kochi, Kerala from January 1 to 3.
Healthcare providers, medical practitioners and government officials attended the annual event.
Secondary Care
Mr Pradhan said that the federal government was planning to improve the secondary care by upgrading district hospitals.
“There is a huge scope for partnership with the private sector in areas such as diagnostic services and labs,” he said.
Director General of Health Services Jagadish Prasad urged private hospitals to reserve 10% of services provided by them free of cost for the poor as their corporate social responsibility.
The government is keen to cooperate with the private sector in areas such as tele-medicine, besides preventive measures such as screening, community medicine, upgrading secondary and tertiary care, he said.
Our Staff Reporter adds:
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had announced the move to allow Indians with professional qualifications to practice in India without any restrictions, at the seventh annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) held in Chennai on January 8, 2009 (Indian Newslink, January 15, 2009).
Apart from qualified doctors, medical practitioners and dentists, chartered accountants, engineers, architects and other professionals would also be entitled to practice anywhere in India, he had said.
But the scheme will be restricted to holders of Overseas Indian Citizenship Card, predominant among who would be former Indian citizens who held Indian passports.
