Mumbai: Medical associations are seeking urgent clarification on the fate of the April 26 elections following a cabinet decision to strip the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) of its elected seats in favour of a “nominated-only” structure. On the other hand, officials say while this election could move forward as planned, it may well be the last one.At present, the council has nine elected members representing the interests of the medical community, and an additional nine who are nominated by the govt. Speaking to TOI, MMC officials said, “The upcoming elections will happen as planned, but could be the last one. Elections are expensive and the voter turnout has been only 13% to 15%.”Medical education secretary Dheeraj Kumar remained unavailable for comment. Last year, the scheduled elections were cancelled by the Supreme Court due to lapses in the process, and fresh elections were ordered. Dr Sudhir Naik, one of the doctors who petitioned the court then, said the cabinet’s decision has led to a lot of confusion and the voter turnout this time around could dwindle further.“There was no prior consultation done with various medical bodies. We were told there was a committee set up to amend the MMC Act, but the committee’s report was not made public.”
