Team Herald
PANJIM: The functioning of the Goa Medical Council has come in the open ahead of its elections with former vice president Dr Dhanesh Volvoikar alleging malpractices by the council while, the council president Dr P V Rataboli has strongly refuted the allegations made by Dr Volvoikar.
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At the same time, Dr Volvoikar has demanded that the government’s interference into the working of the council should stop.
Dr Volvoikar who quit as council vice president in December last year said that the council renewed registration of a doctor without a single CME credit point based on the health minister’s written note. He said that council is a quasi-judiciary body and that politicians should not interfere in its normal functioning. He also alleged that recently a new registrar was appointed, who according to him, is not a qualified and was done by keeping him in the dark. The registrar’s appointment is against the provisions of the Goa Medical Council Act and inspite of a complaint, the government approved the appointment.
Dr Volvoikar further charged that even interns were given permanent registration without they obtaining mandatory MBBS certificate from the Goa University. He also said that the government should not have given permission to a faculty member from the Goa Medical College (GMC) to contest the council election since his primary job was education.
Dr Volvoikar said that Council failed to address issues like quackery, bond of PG students, unethical advertising, generic medicines, amendment of accreditation, guidelines with respect to time and various other ethical issues during the last five years, when one of the members had officially raised it.
When contacted, Goa Medical Council president Dr P V Rataboli said that allegations made by Dr Volvoikar were totally baseless and was giving media half-baked stories. He said that though one of doctor’s registration was renewed by the registrar without a single CME credit point based on the health minister’s written note, the Council cancelled it within three to four days. No doctor was given registration without completing the credit points, he said.
Dr Rataboli clarified that interns were given only registration numbers because their services were needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The interns should get their MBBS registration certification because Goa University was closed and GMC Dean requested us to give their registration number to them. Considering the need of the hour and urgency during pandemic we gave them registration number and not MBBS registration certificate,” he said.
Council did not cancel 30 credit points for anybody and in fact the said doctor quit the Council and took NoC for registration in Karnataka by flouting Rule 9.1 of the Goa Medical Council Act as well as other Rules of ethical conduct by a medical practitioner.
Dr Rataboli said that Dr Volvoikar is raking up old matters after election process has started while himself not contesting and was favouring lobby solely of private medical corporates.
“Dr Volvoikar is trying to seek change in rules of game once the election process is underway by demanding that government doctors should not be allowed to contest elections when actually standing Rules permit”, Dr Rataboli said adding that he is defaming the full Council for no wrong doing on their part.
