Mumbai: The Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) will soon have a new panel of members, as the election for nine seats concluded on April 29. The IMA MMC panel, led by Dr. Santosh Kadam, ex-president IMA Maharashtra state, won eight out of the nine seats.
The state government will now nominate five members, while four ex-officio members from various state health department bodies will also be included, completing the 18-member council.
Counting for the nine seats—voting for which took place on April 26—was completed late Wednesday night. A total of 17,419 doctors across the state cast their votes out of 1,23,118 eligible voters.
Dr. Santosh Kadam secured the highest number of votes at 7,030, marking his second consecutive election with the top vote count. He had also received the maximum votes in the 2016 election, the term of which ended in early 2022. Since then, the council has been functioning under an administrator.
According to Dr. Kadam, his panel won eight of the nine seats, while the remaining seat was secured by another panel, which is said to be a faction of the Indian Medical Association of Maharashtra unit.
After a gap of nearly 10 years, the MMC elections were held on April 26, with 60 candidates contesting for nine seats, making it a closely fought election for the state’s key medical regulatory body.
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The last MMC election took place in December 2016. After completing its five-year term, the state government dissolved the council, and the elections due in 2022 were delayed. For the past three years, the MMC has been operating under an administrator. Following a Supreme Court directive in January, the election process is now being completed within a stipulated three-month period.
Dr. Kadam stated that the new panel will 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,” he said. He added that the panel will request the state government to appoint the five nominated members to complete the council.
