7.4 Given the mandate of the Commission, its responsibility is to oversee the steps taken by the Government in fulfilling this obligation and concurrently take required action if the State has digressed from the committed path. As such, the Commission has consistently been impressing upon the State functionaries that they are duty bound to do their utmost in order to fully realize these rights. It has continuously held meetings, initiated discussions and made recommendations on the key factors that affect the right to health. Availability of Medical Care 7.5 In the previous Annual Report, it was reported that a National Review Meeting on Health was organized by the Commission on 6 March 2007. In the meeting it was stated that although there are sufficient number of doctors and paramedical staff all over the country, there are still innumerable pockets, in the rural and remote areas, where their shortage is felt. As a result, majority of the population is at the mercy of quacks. The Commission has repeatedly expressed its apprehension concerning the existing inadequacies in the public health system in the country as a whole, particularly in rural areas. It therefore made several recommendations to resolve this problem. 7.6 One of the recommendations was that the Medical Council of India (MCI) should design a three-year course for training doctors on basic preventive and curative health services, so that the paucity or non-availability of manpower is taken care of. Another alternative is to have a one-year bridge course for doctors of Indian System of Medicine and post them at Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs). 7.7 The NHRC had also recommended that there is a need to have a recognized course for nurse practitioners to ensure availability of independent treatment and specialists like Nurse Anaesthetists and Gynaecologists in rural parts of the country. Such a step, the Commission felt, would definitely bring about a reduction in the infant mortality and maternal mortality rates. 7.8 Consequently, the Commission held a meeting with the MCI, the Indian Nursing Council (INC) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 30 August 2007 in New Delhi to review the implementation of prior recommendations made by it on the issue. After extensive deliberations, the Commission listed the following action points to overcome the shortage of doctors and nurses in rural and remote areas: • The Government should make necessary changes in the Indian Medical Council Act to make it compulsory for MBBS students to have one year of compulsory rural attachment before their registration. The word 'rural' should also be clearly defined in the Act. • All State Governments/Union Territory Administrations should adopt, with suitable modifications, the Chhattisgarh Rural Health Act or the Assam Rural Health Act or pass a similar legislation which provides diploma holders of three years course in Medicine and 92 National Human Rights Commission