Times of India
30 May 2011
By Sumitra Deb Roy
Mumbai, India

Doctors not registered with the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) will be treated as "quacks" and even penalized. This was decided by the newly formed council to ensure that each and every doctor practising in the state is registered with the council.

According to sources, over 30% of practising physicians in the state have not bothered to register with the council. Most of these doctors are those who have not updated their additional degree or specializations which they acquired over a period of time. Currently, over one lakh doctors are registered with the council, and therefore they have the legitimate license to practice.

President of MMC Dr Kishor Taori said that non–registered doctors are as good as quacks and their practice will be held illegal. "There were technical glitches earlier that have been done away with. So doctors can now easily register themselves or renew their registrations," he added. Medical practitioners are required to register immediately after completing their MBBS and renew their registrations every five years.

Council guidelines say that doctors who fail to register or apply for renewal within a specific period of time, may face legal action and will also have to pay a late fee of Rs 100 per month, apart from the renewal fee. Executive member of the MMC and head of forensic medicine at JJ Hospital Dr SD Nanandkar said, "The council cannot act as a watchdog till the entire medical fraternity comes under its aegis." He added that doctors with superspecialty degrees don’t bother to come and register with the council. "The council will look at initiating a registration drive soon," he said.

A senior doctor from a leading private hospital said that the recent changes in granting registrations could also be a reason for doctors shying away from renewing their registrations. Like, the clause where a physician should mandatorily participate in professional meetings as part of the continuing medical education programmes for at least 30 hours every five years.

However, not every conference is taken into consideration. Only those education programmes organized by professional academic bodies or authorized organizations are counted while granting credit points. It is only recently that the council has started implementing the idea of credit points very strictly while granting registrations.