Hyderabad: The Indian Medical Association has expressed its strong opposition to the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill which is coming up for debate in the Lok Sabha on April 2, 2018. The IMA believes that while the bridge course for AYUSH (Ayurveda, unani etc) doctors has been removed, the government has not completely done away with it.
Allopathic doctors suspect that the government has left loopholes and a back door entry has been allowed for these doctors to practice allopathy. While the bridge course that was part of the NMC Bill, allowing Ayush doctors to learn modern medicine and practice, has been done away with, it has been left up to state governments to decide how to deal with the problem of doctors in rural and periphery areas.
Dr Ravi Wankhedkar, national president of the Indian Medical Association, explained, “The issue of crosspathy has to be tackled as there are provisions which will empower AYUSH doctors to practice. This is not acceptable to us at all. At the same time, the quota of private colleges has been increased from 15 per cent to 50 per cent. This increase will lead to exorbitant rise in fees, which is not acceptable. If the bill is forced upon us by the government, the entire medical fraternity will observe Allopathy Mukta Bharat by withdrawing their services. There will be mass agitation across the country with immediate effect.”
The IMA also contends that many vital issues have not been included in the NMC bill. Issues like violence against doctors and hospitals, amendments to the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, and non invocation of section 304 and 304 A have not been decided for years.
