Maharashtra Medical Council Elections On April 26 After Long Delay, 60 Candidates Contest

Mumbai: After a gap of nearly 10 years, elections to the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) will be held on April 26, with 60 candidates contesting for nine seats, making it a keenly fought battle for the state’s key medical regulatory body.

The last MMC election was held in December 2016. After completion of its five-year term, the state government dissolved the council, and elections due in 2022 were delayed. For the past three years, the MMC has functioned under an administrator. Following a Supreme Court directive in January, the election process is now being completed within a stipulated three-month period.

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Candidates from across Maharashtra are contesting under various panels.

The Healing Hand’s Unity Panel (HHUP), led by convenor Dr Tushar Jagtap, has rolled out a multilingual campaign, “Bhasha Jodo Abhiyan”, claiming outreach to over 2.13 lakh registered doctors.

“The campaign brings together voices from diverse linguistic backgrounds. When languages connect, hearts connect,” Jagtap said. The outreach spans Marathi, Hindi, Urdu, Sindhi, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, among others.

HHUP has promised restoration of voting rights for around 72,000 doctors whose names were removed from the electoral roll due to non-renewal, setting up regional MMC offices, simplifying registration processes, extending the credit point renewal cycle to 10 years, and providing free online CME programmes.

The IMA MMC Panel, represented by Dr Santosh Kadam, comprises several senior members who have previously served on the council. The panel had swept all nine seats in the 2016 election.

Kadam said the panel would focus on ensuring timely justice for patients through faster hearings and improving communication within and outside the council. “With the MMC under an administrator for the past few years, several works are pending. We will expedite them if elected,” he said.

He added that the panel would continue to oppose any move to bring homeopathy practitioners with CCMP certification under the MMC.

Meanwhile, former MMC member Dr Shivkumar Utture raised concerns over increasing political interference in the council’s functioning. “The body should be allowed to function independently in the interest of both the healthcare system and doctors,” he said, adding that an elected council performs better than an appointed one.

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