Medical Council of India (MCI) agreed to allow colour blind students in medical colleges

NEW DELHI : Following recommendation from the Supreme Court-appointed committee of doctors to lift the bar on people with colour vision deficiency (CVD) from joining the medical stream, the Medical Council of India agreed on Monday to end its decades-old practice.

Accepting the recommendation of the committee, comprising experts from genetics, ophthalmology, psychiatry and medical education, the MCI told a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilar that it would implement the recommendation and a formal decision would be taken in its academic general body meeting to be held in October.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh and lawyer Gaurav Sharma, appearing for the MCI, informed the bench that the mandatory screening for colour blindness had been done away with for NEET, the entrance examination for admission to medical courses.

MCI, the apex regulating body in the field of medical study and profession, had earlier contended that people with CVD would not be able to perform their duty as a doctor. They had said that a doctor would not be able to do fair diagnosis and prognosis of a disease as it depended upon colour detection.

The committee, whose report was placed before the court, said CVD should not be an absolute bar in the medical profession as it was a common problem. It said there should not be any restriction either at the stage of admission, or at the stage of completion of study and registration as a medical practitioner.

“There are many reasons why doctors with CVD may perform as well as those with normal colour vision. Firstly, the diagnostic and treatment process is not solely reliant on the ability to perceive colours. There are many other cues from history of illness and examination that might be utilised to compensate for the handicaps resulting from CVD. Doctors with CVD can also overcome their difficulties by carrying out a more thorough diagnostic assessment and taking the help of other colleagues,” the panel said.

In its 35-page report, the committee said India is perhaps the only country where the colour blind are denied admission in medical colleges as CVD is not considered as a criterion for rejection to study medicine in USA, UK and other western countries.

“As per current international practices, there is no policy of regulating entry of medical aspirants to study and practice of the medical profession based on colour vision deficiency. There are also no identified or mentioned practice restrictions,” it said.

The bench was examining validity of MCI rule on a plea of two medical aspiring students who were denied admission in college after clearing the entrance examination in 2015 as they were suffering from partial colour blindness. After ensuring that colour blind students are not denied opportunity to pursue medical studies in future, the court also asked the MCI to grant admission in colleges to the petitioners as well.

MCI, however, expressed reservation in granting them admission saying that they had cracked entrance in two years back and it was not possible to admit them the current session. Senior advocate K V Vishwanathan, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae, said that petitioner got extraordinary rank in 2015 test and the court should direct MCI to grant them admission in MBBS course.

The court thereafter after directed MCI’s counsel to take instruction and posted the case for hearing on September 12.

News Source: Amit Anand Choudhary | TNN