High Court slaps contempt notices on Health Secretary, MCI chief

For failure to comply with its November 2010 order to implement BRHC course

The Delhi High Court on Monday served contempt notices on the Union Health Secretary and the Chairperson of the Medical Council of India (MCI) for their failure to comply with its order of November 10, 2010, to implement measures for the introduction of a three-and-a-half year course ‘Bachelor of Rural Health Care (BRHC)' by March 2011 for primary health care in rural areas. The order had been issued in the case of Writ Petition (Civil) No. 13208 of 2009 by petitioner Dr. Meenakshi Gautam, a public health specialist.

The contempt notice was issued by the Bench comprising Justice Vipin Sanghi on a plea by the petitioner to initiate contempt of court proceedings against contemnors and it sought their response within four weeks. The contempt petition was filed on Monday in the Delhi High Court. Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared for the petitioner.

According to the contempt petition, the order of November 2010 had asked the MCI to finalise the curriculum and syllabus for the BRHC, whose implementation had been approved by the Centre, in two months. A further period of two months was given to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the enforcement of the same. The course had been proposed to fill the gap of health care workers in rural areas where medical graduates and professionals were unwilling to go and serve.

The petitioner said that, as per the timeline stipulated by the government order, the course should have been introduced by March, 2011, and that no such course had been introduced by the Ministry as of February 2012. Further, the petition said, “in complete desecration of the consent to this course furnished by its Counsel before the then Hon'ble Chief Justice, the MCI apparently opposed the course in 2011 and is not willing to notify it.”

Meet resolution

Dr. Gautam had filed her petition in 2009 based on the resolution of the 9th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare on November 13, 2007, for the introduction of a 3-year diploma course in Medicine and Public Health, as well as the recommendation of 2007 Task Force on Medical Education Reforms for National Rural Health Mission for the introduction of the 3-year Rural Practitioner Course. In it, she had sought directives from the honourable court to the government for the introduction a short-term course for training mid-level health workers for primary health care in rural areas.

In February 2011, the petitioner was told by the Ministry that it intended to introduce the course after ensuring proper administrative structure and curriculum, as soon as the Parliamentary Standing Committee gave its report. Dr. Gautam was also told that the draft course curriculum had been prepared by the Ministry and sent to the MCI for their views in October 2010. In December 2010, the MCI, in turn, proposed certain modifications which had been reviewed and responded to by the Ministry in January 2011.

Lack of seriousness

In October, 2011, enquiries made revealed that the Standing Committee report was yet to be finalised and therefore yet to be presented to Parliament. Further, though the petitioner had been assured by Dr. K.K. Talwar, Chairman, MCI, that the issue remained on the top of the agenda of the MCI and the government, minutes of the December 2011 meeting of the MCI Board of Governors revealed that there were no inputs on the proposed course at the meeting. This, the petition said, betrayed a lack of seriousness on the part of the MCI to take a positive and definite decision on the notification of the course.