The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
The removal of Ketan Desai from the post of Director of MCI is a much belated and required step. The prima facie evidence of corruption at the top levels of MCI required firm Government intervention. The CPI(M) had urged the Government in Parliament to take action to remove Desai, ensure accountability and Parliamentary oversight on such bodies like the MCI through required amendments to the MCI Act, while protecting the autonomy of the MCI.
However utilizing the need for removal of Desai, the Government has brought an ordinance to dissolve the entire council shortly after the Parliament session. This shows the absence of minimum democratic norms. The Government should have taken Parliament into confidence before dissolving an autonomous body set up by an Act of Parliament.
Secondly, since health is a state subject and medical education is on the concurrent list it was mandatory for the Central Government to have consulted State Governments by calling an emergency meeting of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare. In the dissolved Medical Council, State Governments had their representatives. The seven member Board of Governors now appointed through the ordinance consists entirely of centrally nominated persons. This is a violation of federal principles and is an injustice to the States.
The ordinance reflects a policy of overcentralisation of powers in the hands of the Central Government which does damage to the federal character of the Constitution. The CPI(M) calls upon the Central Government to immediately call a meeting of the Central Council and ensure that the rights of the States are not bypassed.
