CCMP registration row: Maharashtra resident doctors continue strike after talks with Govt fail
Junior Doctors Strike
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) on Wednesday said its indefinite strike against the state government’s decision to allow homoeopaths to register with the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) and prescribe allopathic medicines will continue after talks with the authorities failed to reach a conclusion.
Resident doctors at 32 state-run hospitals across Maharashtra went on an indefinite strike from midnight of August 5. They were joined by resident doctors at the civic-run hospitals in Mumbai and Thane.
The strike disrupted OPD (outpatient department) services at several government hospitals across the state.
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However, Sanjay Surase, medical superintendent of the state-run J J Hospital, claimed that services remained unaffected due to the strike as a parallel system was in place, news agency PTI reported.
Doctors at the J J Hospital and Grant Medical College protested on the premises, shouting slogans against the government’s decision.
Earlier in the day, a delegation of Central MARD, including BMC MARD representatives, held a meeting with the Joint Secretary, Medical Education Department, and the Director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) and Registrar MMC.
“During the meeting, the government acknowledged the issues raised by Central MARD and took serious cognisance of the statewide agitation. The delegation was informed that the concerns presented by Central MARD will be placed before the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and sincere efforts will be made to arrive at a positive and decisive resolution in the coming days. The Government also stated that certain issues are presently sub judice (before courts) and are therefore being examined within the applicable legal framework,” MARD said, reports PTI.
However, no concrete assurance was conveyed during the meeting regarding the key demands, and therefore Central MARD decided to continue its indefinite agitation on August 6, it added.
Resident doctors (MD/MS/DNB) across government medical colleges and hospitals will withdraw all routine clinical, academic and non-life-saving emergency services until further notice, said Central MARD president Atharva Shinde.
The suspended services include routine OPD, IPD services and ward rounds, elective surgeries, procedures, academic activities, central laboratory services and fever OPD, he said.
Emergency medical services will remain uninterrupted, including casualty and emergency services, trauma care, ICUs, labour rooms, emergency surgeries and life-saving procedures, emergency laboratory (E-Lab), blood bank and all other critical emergency services.
The MMC on June 30 issued a notification allowing homoeopaths to prescribe modern medicines after completing a six-month Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP).
MARD has demanded immediate suspension of the BHMS-CCMP (Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery-Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology) registration process until the final court verdict.
Shinde said the strike was observed in 32 medical colleges across the state as well as those run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
“Our opposition is to the law. There should be no cross-pathy and mixopathy. The Maharashtra government should prioritise services to patients. If they (homoeopaths) have pursued education of 5.5 years (of homeopathy) and get allopathy licence after simply doing a course…it is akin to giving a person a firearm licence and allow him to use weapons indiscriminately,” Shinde added.
In Nagpur, resident doctors boycotted OPD work at Government Medical College and Research Hospital (GMCH) and Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMC). They also staged demonstrations on the hospital premises, holding placards and banners.
Similar scenes were witnessed in government medical colleges across the Vidarbha region.
Speaking to PTI, Dr Ashutosh Ade, general secretary of Central MARD, said resident doctors abstained from OPD services on Wednesday.
According to MARD, around 450 resident doctors of IGGMC and 800 resident doctors from GMCH withdrew from OPD services during the agitation on Wednesday.
The Indian Medical Association, BMC MARD, Maharashtra State Resident Doctors Association, Association of State Medical Interns, Maharashtra Association of Gazetted Medical Officers Group-A, and Maharashtra State Medical Teachers Association have extended their full support to the strike.
