City doctor Dr. K. Mohandas Bhandary elected to the Apex Body

City doctor Dr. K. Mohandas Bhandary elected to the Apex Body

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, September 6, 2011: Dr. Kailkere Mohandas Bhandary of Mangalore has been declared elected to the Karnataka Medical Council in the elections conducted on 31-08-2011. Karnataka Medical Council is the apex professional body for medical practitioners of the state.

Dr. Bhandary has been elected in the Non Teachers Constituency 3(2)(a) as per the Karnataka Medical Registration Act 34 of 1961. He is one among the six candidates elected in this constituency, the others being Dr. Veerabadraiah T. A., Dr. Ravindra H.N., Dr. Basavaraju, Dr. Nagaraj Annegowda and Dr. Kanchi Pralhad V.

The following four candidates were elected in the Teachers Constituency 3(2)(b) constituency: Dr. Uma R., Dr. H. Veerabharappa, Dr. Gududur Ajaykumar and Dr. Prabhakara G.N.

Dr. Kailkere Mohandas Bhandary was Founder President of Family Doctors Association (R), Mangalore and has also served as the president of IMA Mangalooru Branch. He is actively involved in a wide range of social and cultural activities.

The present council election is significant for the fact that it is being conducted under court orders after a long vacuum of 15 years, during which period, the previous office bearers continuously occupied office sans elections in clear violation of democratic principles.

Election Background:
Karnataka Medical Council is the mandatory professional body for registration of doctors in the state. It began as Mysore Medical Council and was constituted under the Mysore Medical Registartion of Act 1931 to have a uniform law relating to the registration of practitioners modern system of medicine.

The Karnataka Medical Council has made significant achievements since its inception. The state has so far produced 95,000 doctors and this number is growing every year due to the opening of many new medical colleges in recent times.

The governing council of this autonomous state sponsored body comprises of 5 government nominees and 10 members elected by the registered doctors through postal ballot. Of these 4 members are from teacher category and 6 are from non-teacher category. Though the term of office bearers is only for a period of 5 years, it is unfortunate that no election had been held for the last 15 years. The outgoing team headed by its president Dr. Chikkananjappa has been continuously occupying office during this period, thereby compromising the democratic values of this institution. Subsequently the elections were forced through judicial intervention, marking a return to democratic style of functioning.

The postal ballot procedure commenced with the dispatch of ballot papers under certificate of posting on 20th July 2011 and concluded on the last date for receipt of filled ballot papers on 29th August 2011 at noon. This was followed by counting of ballots and announcement of results on 31-08-2011