Now Reading: MARD seeks support from resident docs of other states as homoeopath registrations resume
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MARD seeks support from resident docs of other states as homoeopath registrations resume
MARD seeks support from resident docs of other states as homoeopath registrations resume
The Maharashtra Medical Council will resume issuing registrations to homoeopaths to prescribe modern medicines from Monday, prompting the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors to seek support from resident doctor associations in Karnataka, Goa and Telangana. MARD president Dr Atharva Shinde said social media campaigns will target younger audiences since the association cannot legally strike after the Bombay High Court examined whether doctors have the right to strike.
The registrations allow homoeopaths to prescribe complex allopathic drugs based on a one-year certificate course. Earlier this month, registrations were paused by the medical education department on August 18 after MARD and the Indian Medical Association protested, but the department reversed that pause on August 20 after homoeopaths met medical education secretary Dhiraj Kumar. Kumar had earlier told TOI the pause was a departmental mistake made without his approval. One homoeopath has threatened self-immolation if registrations are not granted on Monday.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The core dispute turns on a 2023 state government notification that allowed homoeopaths to prescribe allopathic drugs after a one-year bridge course, a move the Indian Medical Association and resident doctors have fought ever since. The stakes are high because the precedent could be replicated in other states, potentially reshaping who can prescribe modern medicines. MARD’s past strike weapon was powerful, it paralysed OPDs and elective surgeries, but the Bombay High Court’s suo motu examination of whether doctors have a right to strike at all has now removed that option for the foreseeable future. What actually happens on Monday, whether MMC processes fresh registrations, whether the promised social media campaign gains traction, and whether any homoeopath follows through on the self-immolation threat, will determine if the standoff escalates into a national movement or gets defused by another administrative U-turn.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
