<span style="color: #222222;">The Rajya Sabha today passed the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2020. The Bill seeks to regulate and standardise the education and practice of allied and healthcare professionals. <br />''<br />''It defines 'allied health professional' as an associate, technician, or technologist trained to support the diagnosis and treatment of any illness, disease and injury. The Bill has a provision to set up the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions. Under the legislation, a provision has been made that no person is allowed to practice as a qualified allied and healthcare practitioner other than those enrolled in a State Register or the National Register.  <br />''<br />''Speaking on the Bill, Union Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said the passing of Bill will certainly bring cheers on the faces of allied and healthcare professionals across the country.  Describing the Bill as a pathbreaking initiative, he said it will change the future of the healthcare sector.  <br />''<br />''He said existing professionals will be provisionally registered after the Bill becomes an Act. The Minister said, as there are no statutory bodies in states, which holistically cover the entire gamut of allied and healthcare professionals, existing professional councils at state level pertaining to the recognized category would be subsumed and their mandate will be expanded to all to cover the professions. The Minister said, under the Bill, each state will be having a separate state professional council with four autonomous boards pertaining to undergraduate education, post-graduate education, assessment and rating. The Bill provides an opportunity to regulate and leverage the qualified allied and healthcare workforce and ensure high quality multi-disciplinary care in line with the universal health coverage.        <br />''Earlier participating in the discussion, Hanumanthaiah of Congress welcomed the legislation. However, he raised demands with regards to rural practitioners. Ram Gopal Yadav of Samajwadi Party extended support to the Bill and congratulated the Government.<br />''Tiruchi Shiva of DMK sought clarification on the issue of medical physicist and provisions made for them. Muzibulla Khan of BJD, Shantanu Sen of TMC, Vandana Chavan of NCP, Suresh Prabhu of BJP and others also participated in the discussion.</span><br />