In response to the call of Indian Medical Association (IMA), the doctors associated with Haridwar district chapter of IMA staged two-hour sit-in at Chandracharya Chowk on Wednesday, protesting against the Centre’s decision to replace Medical Council of India (MCI) with National Medical Commission (NMC). They also raised six- point charter of demands. It is learnt that all the 30 state branches and 1765 local branches of IMA staged the two-hour sit-ins across the country as part of what the agitating doctors termed satyagraha. In Dehradun, the protesting doctors took out a rally from the Gandhi Park to the district collectorate where they submitted a memorandum addressed to the President through the District Magistrate, listing their demands and issues. The two-hour 'Satyagraha' was carried out by IMA member doctors in all the 13 districts of the state.
The organisers of the dharna said that they had resorted to the agitation to pressure the Centre to solve the problems the medical profession has been facing. The local branch president of IMA, Dr A K Jain said, “The announcement that Ayurvedics, Homoeopaths and others will be registered to prescribe modern medicines to the patients under Schedule IV of NMC would spell danger as far as the patient care and patient safety are concerned. If the Centre fails to act on our six -fold demands within six weeks further course of action will be taken.”
Speaking to The Pioneer, the branch secretary Dr Dinesh Singh said, “The six- fold demands include scrapping of NMC and suitably amendment of the Indian Medical Council Act without compromising the autonomy of the profession, capping of compensation under Consumer Protection Act, amendments to abolish license raj and exemption of single doctor clinics in Clinical Establishment Act, punitive punishment for sex selective abortion, a central act to protect doctors and hospitals from violence and to prevent unscientific mixing of modern medicine and indigenous systems.”
The proposed NMC has a team of five people which includes one medico and other non-medicos, something that is pricking the doctors. “Clinical Act is as per European standards where patients have enough money. But in India, all doctors cannot afford computers and make entry of each patient which is mandatory as per the act. The act is feasible in metro cities but not in tier 3 cities like Haridwar,” said Singh.
Regarding compensation to the patient in case of death, the doctors have proposed for providing ITR of patient beforehand when the treatment begins so that after the death of the patient the doctor fraternity does not suffer compensating the affluent patients.