The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the National Medical Commission Bill 2019 that proposes common entrance and exit tests for medical colleges nationwide, including “institutions of national importance” such as the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences.

The bill — aimed at establishing a National Medical Commission (NMC), a new regulatory structure for medical education and practice to replace the existing Medical Council of India — also proposes to regulate fees and other charges for 50 per cent of seats in private medical colleges.

The NMC bill provides for a national eligibility-cum-entrance test (NEET) for admission to all medical colleges and a national exit test (NEXT) to serve as a “licentiate exam” for entrance to postgraduate medical courses and a screening test for foreign medical graduates.

The NMC will have four autonomous boards for undergraduate education, postgraduate education, assessment and rating of medical colleges, and ethics and registration.

The Centre said the strength of the boards had been increased from three, as initially proposed, to five and the boards would include two part-time members — one a doctor selected by the government and the other an elected doctor from the state medical council.

The bill also provides for greater representation for elected members through state medical councils in the NMC.