On Friday, the Maharashtra government sanctioned a standalone register in the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) for homeopathy physicians who have done the Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP). This is likely to be a boost for about 7,600 practitioners who took the course during the last decade.
According to the Loksatta report, in 2014, the state had permitted CCMP-certified homeopathy physicians to register individually in the MMC, but this was challenged by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in court. Subsequently, the government took legal opinion from the Law and Judiciary Department, which upheld that keeping a separate register is legally acceptable and would not introduce any prejudice between allopathy and homeopathy physicians.
The Advocate General further pointed out that, if the register were kept under the final orders of the High Court, no charges of bias could be raised.
Following these suggestions, the government has now approved the independent register for CCMP-qualified homeopathy practitioners.
Maharashtra Homeopathy Council Administrator Dr. Bahubali Shah welcomed the move, saying it brings relief to homeopathy physicians after their July 11 circular was cancelled following confusion brought by an opposing association, as per the Loksatta report.
But the IMA President Santosh Kadam condemned the move, terming it as wrong, as there is still a stay on enrolling homeopathy doctors in the MMC. He further said the association will approach the court urgently against the decision.
