Doctors vote for new governing body of Maharashtra Medical Council after 10 years

The election was announced on February 20, weeks after a Supreme Court judgment ordered the completion of the election process in three months

MUMBAI: Elections to the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) were conducted after a gap of 10 years on Sunday, with doctors from across the state voting for candidates for nine positions. The counting will be done at the Haffkine Institute at Parel on April 29, and the results will be declared on the same day.

Doctors vote for new governing body of Maharashtra Medical Council after 10 years

The election was announced on February 20, weeks after a Supreme Court judgment ordered the completion of the election process in three months. The last election was held in 2016, and the council has been functioning under a state-appointed administrator since 2022.

According to the MMC website, there were around 60 candidates in the fray and four panels. The total number of eligible voters were more than 1,43,000 and the voter turnout was a mere 13.9%. Polling booths were set up in all the districts of the state, including Mumbai where polling took place in two booths—JJ Hospital (for the island city) and Vakola Public School (for suburban Mumbai).

BJP minister Ashish Shelar, in an open support of one panel, went to JJ Hospital on Sunday morning and urged the doctors to elect the panel in question. “Doctors have their own issues and problems. I have many friends who are doctors, and hence I am here. I am supporting this panel to end the dispute in the MMC,” he told a Marathi news channel.

The elections were held against the backdrop of the state government’s decision to scrap the MMC’s election process and henceforth directly appoint its members through nomination, a move strongly opposed by doctors. To enable this change, it approved an amendment of the Maharashtra Medical Council Act, 1965, by promulgating an ordinance. Last week, it also filed a nomination before the Supreme Court seeking to cancel the elections, which was rejected.

Once the nine members are elected, the state government will nominate the remaining nine. The full panel will then jointly elect the new governing body, including the president, vice-president, secretary and other office bearers.

The MMC was established under the Maharashtra Medical Council Act, 1965. It is the statutory body that regulates medical professionals in the state. It grants registration to medical practitioners, MBBS and specialists, managing renewals or additional qualifications. It enforces strict professional ethics and handling grievances, ensuring that practitioners adhere to high standards of conduct, apart from overseeing standards of medical education and Continuing Professional Development (CPD).