Jalandhar, January 2(Parteek Singh): The Jalandhar allopathy doctors opposed the NMC bill on Tuesday. The Indian Medical Association(IMA) has called a nationwide 12-hour strike by doctors of private hospitals against the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill 2017, which seeks to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a new body. The Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha last week. The bill being debated in Parliament on Tuesday and Lok Sabha sends it to the parliamentary committee.
IMA Jalandhar branch during a press conference said the NMC bill which has been tabled in the Lok Sabha will hit hard at the standards of healthcare. This bill has provision to allow ayurvedic and homeopathic doctors to practice allopathy after 6 months course thus bringing them par with an MBBS.
Dr. Navjot Dahiya said the bill will create a totally government nominated body called NMC which will replace democratically elected MCI. The states will have negligible say in the functioning of this regulatory body while every state has different needs. This bill will open wide area for corruption in medical education and will push up the cost of medical education very high. This bill will make education purely commercial how can a young doctor will get the sense of serving humanity.
The IMA has 2.77 lakh members, which includes corporate hospitals, poly-clinics and nursing homes, across the country. The IMA strongly opposes bill in present form. IMA warns government if bill did not abandon they will be forced to go for further agitation.