Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The principal bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur has stayed the recruitment of Ayush medical officers (Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy) in the state. A division bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Sharaf passed the order.
Senior advocate Naman Nagrath, appearing for the petitioner, told court that as per notification issued in March 2025, 50% reservation would be granted to contractual candidates who have completed five years of service on a post equivalent to a regular government medical officer.
The petitioners argued they have been deprived of this benefit because their posts were deemed not equivalent to regular doctors, despite performing the same work.
Nagrath further stated that although the petitioners worked for five years in the same capacity, they received lower pay than regular Ayush doctors, which was used as a ground to deny them the reservation benefit.
The state government stated that it had appealed to National Health Commission (NHC) to equalise the pay of contractual doctors with regular doctors. The appeals cited Supreme Court ruling of "equal pay for equal work". The petitioners maintained that authorities should equalise their pay while ensuring they are not excluded from reservation benefits due to existing salary discrepancies.
