BHOPAL: The nationwide strike called by IMA for 24 hour withdrawal of non-essential services to protest passage of the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill failed to evoke much response in the state on Wednesday. Outpatient services at many government hospitals in state were operational as usual.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), state president Dr Devendra Goswami said only the private practitioner and resident doctors of government medical colleges participated in the strike. The doctors at government hospitals remained on their duties and only took ‘gate meeting’ to raise their voice against the Bill - which seeks to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI). The bill, was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday and is slated to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
IMA has to inform the government 48 hours before going on strike, but since the association had not much time to bring to government’s knowledge about their decision we decided to carry out all our routine duties and to express their support to strike the doctors wore black bands and called gate meeting, he informed.
Hamidia Hospital superintendent Dr A K Shrivatava said only resident doctors stayed away from work in response to a strike while other medical officers and other senior doctors remained on duty on the day.
The emergency services starts from 2 pm and the resident doctors were on strike from 10 am to 1 pm and thereafter they resumed their duties, he added. A section of doctors in rural belts of the state protested and demanded scrapping of the Bill. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Resident Doctors Association have opposed the Bill.
Goswami said that Government has brought a bill which would collapse the whole medical system in the country.
The bill will kill the future of the brilliant student as the post graduate exam will be scraped, said concerned Goswami, adding that major objection is pertaining to ‘cross pathy’, because the Bill gives the freedom to other non-medical persons to practice modern medicine, which would endanger the lives of the people.
