Dubious retreat: on the National Medical Commission and its MSMER

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has denotified and withdrawn its 2023 Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations (MSMER), diminishing the framework of penalties vis-à-vis educational standards and infrastructure at medical colleges. The move is noteworthy as the MSMER provided for fines of up to ₹5 lakh on faculty members and administrators for submitting false information. Fortunately, the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) retains the power to fine errant institutions up to ₹1 crore under the 2023 Establishment of Medical Institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations. MSMER was lauded for its intention to crack down on the deep-seated corruption and malpractice in medical colleges, particularly over ‘ghost faculty’ and ‘ghost patients’. The NMC’s justification is that MSMER also introduced a parallel mechanism allowing undergraduate and postgraduate boards to evaluate institutions, stepping on the MARB’s toes. However, why the NMC scrapped MSMER wholesale is unclear. The 2023 Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations remain in force and include a provision to fine individual faculty members at postgraduate medical colleges. Non-compliance among medical colleges is not uncommon and seldom nipped in the bud, even as the number of medical seats swells while the transparency of the medical education system has not improved.Notwithstanding the provision to fine individuals at postgraduate centres, the MARB and the NMC can only penalise institutions, which is harder and risks creating a perverse incentive to accommodate rather than punish, and could mitigate the fear that keeps administrators honest. MSMER also specified timelines to appeal penalties. Although the MARB regulations retain the appeal processes, their 15-day deadline could conflict with the 60-day period under the NMC Act, potentially creating legal disputes that delay penal action. There is also a telling incident. As part of a proceeding under the RTI Act, the Central Information Commission revealed last year that the NMC had stated in 2024 that MARB had neither formally assessed nor rated medical colleges and that its standard forms need not be made public. In a revised reply in October 2025, it said the responding NMC officer’s records did not include any of the corresponding reports. However, the 2023 MARB regulations require the Board to publish its latest annual assessment results. If the NMC withdrew MSMER because the powers thereunder also exist elsewhere, the public deserves to know whether the powers are also being exercised and whether the outcomes are as publicly accessible as intended. Unless the NMC has satisfactory answers for all these lacunae, the withdrawal will appear less like simplification and more like regulatory relaxation. Published - October 27, 2026 12:10 am IST