BHOPAL: The outpatients’ departments (OPD) of all government hospitals, on Friday, remained functional even after strike of Indian Medical Association (IMA) against the Union Government for assigning Ayurveda medical students to perform 58 kinds of surgeries.
Medical professionals have been protesting ever since the government announced that Post-Graduate (PG) students of Ayurveda would be allowed to perform a variety of general surgeries, including orthopaedic, ophthalmology, ENT and dental.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) indicated that the agitation might intensify in the coming weeks. Private hospitals have raised concerns over the strike and are taking steps to ensure smooth functioning of services. The IMA alleged that misappropriating 58 surgical techniques and procedures of several specialties will end up only in compromising with patient care and safety. The government notification issued listed 58 types of surgeries that post-graduate Ayurveda medical students must be “practically trained to acquaint with, as well as to independently perform”.
The gazette notification issued by the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM), a statutory body under the AYUSH Ministry, listed 39 general surgery procedures and 19 other procedures, involving the eye, ear, nose and throat, by amending the Indian Medicine Central Council (Post-Graduate Ayurveda Education) Regulations, 2016. These surgeries include general surgery, orthopaedic, ophthalmology, ENT and dental surgeries.
‘Only a token strike’
"It was only token strike. We continued OPD with black badges as a mark of protest, but kept OPDs functional in the interests of the patients. We are in support of the IMA, but continued OPD in pandemic times. It was a nationwide call, so the strike was all over Madhya Pradesh. We doctors observed it as a token strike today," said Junior Doctors’ Association’s Dr Sanchet Saxena.
'Docs wore black badges’
"Doctors sporting black badges worked in OPDs as it was their token strike against the Union Government for assigning Ayurveda medical students to perform 58 kind of surgeries. So, OPD worked as normal in hospitals," Dr ID Chaurasia, Medical Superintendent, Hamidia Hospital said.