The Union Cabinet’s green light to National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill amendments, including removal of the contentious bridge course provision that would have allowed practitioners of alternative medicines to pursue allopathy, has left thousands of Ayush doctors in the country angry and dejected.
The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on March 28 essentially approved the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee report tabled in Parliament on March 20. The panel had sought to make the bridge course non-mandatory.
Ayush practitioners and their associations have been holding rallies and sit-ins across the country in support of the bridge course claiming that it would plug the gap in the healthcare coverage by addressing the abysmal doctor-patient ratio in the country.
“The Cabinet decision is indeed a blow to Ayush sector and setback for healthcare in the country. A bridge course would have plugged the gaps in healthcare manpower especially in rural areas. The House panel was influenced by rumours spread by modern medicine practitioners,” vice-president of Ayush Medical Association (Ayushma) Haryana Chapter Dr Sada Singh told Pharmabiz. Ayushma is an organisation which represents registered Ayush doctors in India with representation in 28 states.
Though some Ayush medical associations don’t bat for a bridge course, all are unanimous in their view that its scrapping will deal a body blow to healthcare. “We, as an association of medical professionals, have never pitched for a bridge course though we were ready to support the initiative to help meet shortage of medical practitioners in villages. Having said that, I think an integration of traditional and modern systems of medicine is possible and advisable. At the end of the day, it would have been beneficial for patients,” says Dr Sadath Dinakar, the newly elected general secretary of Ayurveda Medical Association of India.
The bridge course provision was included in the bill by the government to meet the huge shortage of medical professionals. Doctor-to-patient ratio in India is 0.7:1000 while the World Health Organisation recommendation is 1:1000. But the move had not gone down well with allopathic doctors with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) spearheading the protests against it. “It is aimed at bringing in doctors involved in alternative medical practices into modern medicine sector through the backdoor and will help promote quackery,” IMA Secretary General Dr RN Tandon had opined. Now, while clearing amendments, the Cabinet left it to the state governments to take necessary steps for promoting primary healthcare in rural areas.
The Cabinet decision is seen as a major victory for the IMA. Amendments mooting tougher punitive actions against unqualified medical practitioners or quacks have also been approved as the government remains concerned about the quality of healthcare in the country. The punishment for any unauthorised practice of medicine has been upgraded by including a provision for the imprisonment of up to one year along with a fine extending up to Rs.5 lakh.
The Cabinet also made the final medical graduation exam a common one across the country, to be called the National Exit Test (NEXT). Instead of holding a separate licentiate exam after the MBBS final, the Cabinet combined the two into NEXT.
Moreover, the nominees of States and Union Territories have been increased to six members from three earlier to increase their representation in the proposed commission. The NMC will now include 25 members of which at least 21 will be doctors.