A 24-hour nation-wide strike is being observed by junior doctors and medical students with effect from 6 a.m. on Wednesday to oppose the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill-2019, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The call for the strike was given by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
Announcing this at a media conference on Tuesday, Dr. A. Subrahmanyeswara Rao, IMA city president, Dr. P.A. Ramani, vice-president and Dr. M.V. Vijaya Sekhar, immediate past president, described the Bill as ‘anti-democratic’ as there would be no adequate and proper representation to all stakeholders i.e., medical teachers, medical universities and students and ‘anti-federal’ as each State, which now has three representatives on the Medical Council of India (MCI), would now have only one representative on a rotation basis after 10 years.
They said that the NMC Bill would enable community health workers to undergo a six-month bridge course in allopathy, and practise in the rural areas. They alleged that it was nothing but playing with the health of rural and tribal poor, who could not afford expensive treatment at private hospitals.
They said that the services at all hospitals, including private, would be suspended to protest against the Bill. Emergency services would be exempted from the strike. They appealed to the general public and patients not to visit the hospitals, unless it was an emergency, and cooperate with the striking doctors.
